Metroid IV: Alone In The Stars
by Magus523
Summary: Crippled and half-dead from a failed mission, Samus Aran now fights against an even deadlier lifeform than the Metroids, her own body now fused with the extinct monsters. Novelization.
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

**Excerpt from transcript of "Hero or Hoser? The Career of Samus Aran, Bounty Hunter," originally aired on Channel Ohm Stardate 3492, Cycle 58, Standard Time 2620**

Samus Aran. A name that needs no introduction, no explanation. In this era of space travel, to speak of a "household name" holds far more meaning than it did in bygone times when species were confined to their own home planets. There are perhaps half a dozen entities still alive who can be said to have achieved that level of notoriety, and Samus Aran is one of them. Having saved the civilized universe from the ambitions of the predatory Space Pirates three or more times, having singlehandedly destroyed the horrible Metroid species that threatened life itself, it is perhaps understandable that Samus Aran has acquired this degree of notoriety. A humble bounty hunter reaching such heights is the sort of thing to inspire dreams and light the fires of hope in the hearts of the multitudes everywhere, from the sunken halls of the royal palace on Evir to the farthest travel routes of deep-space cargo haulers to the beer halls of the Federation's finest soldiers.

Unfortunately, simply accepting common beliefs at face value rarely leads to the entire truth. While we of course wish to remain duly respectful of Aran's accomplishments, the quest for truth, that cold mistress, spurs us onward. And so we have looked into all available resources documenting this most legendary bounty hunter's career, searching tirelessly for any inconsistencies and indiscretions which an adoring public might choose to overlook out of well-meant but misplaced gratitude.

The official statements on Aran's childhood are the first thing to catch the eye upon such an analysis. The fact that this young human exploded onto the bounty hunting scene eight Standard years ago at the age of twenty with no official records of any sort is curious, to say the least. Only under the most relentless questioning did Aran divulge any details, and those have only complicated the issue even moreso. According to her own apparent memory, she was the only survivor of a Space Pirate attack on the space cruiser _Pykasye_. A remarkably convenient story, considering that records of the _Pykasye's_ final passenger list were wiped out by a system glitch in Federation computers. However, since there is no actual means to _deny_ Aran's story, one must reluctantly admit it is certainly possible, however unlikely, that a four-year-old girl would be the sole survivor of the destroyed ship.

It is there that Aran's story enters the realm of suspended belief. For the next fifteen years of her life, she claims to have been raised by the last survivors of a dying species whom she referred to as the Chozo. Though the existence of the Chozo has of course been proven by Federation archaeologists, those same archaeologists also date the most recent Chozo settlement yet discovered to have been abandoned two thousand Standard years ago. The existence of some last remnants of the species is hardly to be believed on a single human's word alone, no matter how notorious, and she has yet to provide evidence of this claim beyond her infamous power suit, a model which shows a degree of interface with Chozo technology admittedly beyond Federation standard.

It was one year into her career that Aran's name became legend. At that point, her own natural abilities had already rocketed her to a significant amount of fame, and thus was recognized by the Federation as talented when disaster struck. Reports came in of the Space Pirates of Zebes having acquired a frightening new biological weapon, a nonsentient species known as "Metroids." These creatures, in addition to possessing a carapace impenetrable to any weaponry below vehicle-mounted caliber, could actually drain the "life force" out of any living being in remarkable short time. Ludicrous as such a metaphysical concept might seem, the Federation regarded the threat as substantial, and immediately began to negotiate in earnest with the Zebesians over the control of the beasts.

Negotiations were underway when Aran entered Zebes airspace. To this day, she maintains that she was sent in by a Federation Commander, Adam Malkovich, as a one-man assault force with the mission to eliminate all Metroids held by the Pirates. In addition, she was supposedly assigned to assassinate the two Pirate Lords present on-planet, Ridley and Kraid, as well as the Pirate Queen, Mother Brain. Why exactly Malkovich believed a single bounty hunter of only twenty-one years capable of completing this mission (in direct violation of Federation practices and policy at the time) better than other alternatives, such as a well-trained platoon of the Egenoid Star Marines, shall never be answered; Malkovich himself was killed several years later under mysterious circumstances. While he did confirm Aran's story before his demise, it is still entirely possible that was a fiction meant to prevent the Hunter from ungracious but righteous prison time for uncalled interference.

Aran's second adventure is much more murky than her first. What is known is that, during the next several years, she persisted in stymieing further attempts by the Space Pirates to acquire and breed Metroids, destroying their captured beasts whenever any were taken from their native planet SR-388. The Federation has classified these several conflicts as the "Metroid Prime Incident," for reasons which have not been made known to the general public. The only thing of note reported is that the Pirate Lord Ridley returned to fight Aran again not once, but twice, leading the gullible to accept that the Pirates' lead scientist, Kraid, had created some means of reviving the dead. This is, of course, completely laughable, and a more reasonable being must instead accept that the name of "Ridley" is passed on to each member of the Drakar species to inherit the title of Pirate Lord following his predecessor's death. The only other possibility, that Aran had faked Ridley's death, could only have happened for reasons too dark for even this investigator to peer into yet.

Eventually, it seems the "Metroid Prime Incident" was concluded satisfactorily, although the Space Pirates remained a threat, with two Pirate Lords-Draygon and Phantoon-still confirmed to be alive and active, along with the aforementioned issues with Ridley. It was not to these threats that Aran turned next, however. It was to Planet SR-388, the homeworld of the Metroids. Located on the Far Side, the discovered space which is not under Federation control, SR-388 was a world with no known sentient life. Though the Federation was obviously reluctant to order the extinction of even a nonsentient species, the threat of the Metroids had by now been proven to be simply too much to tolerate. Again, Aran alone was entrusted with this mission, and again she succeeded. Or, at least, nearly succeeded. When she returned to Federation Space, only one living Metroid remained-an infant, which she had brought with her.

It is here that, once again, Aran's story stretches the bounds of credibility. All of her accounts of the infant Metroid claim that the animal had bonded with her, and thought of her as its mother. This is, of course, patently ridiculous. Metroids are not evolved enough to possess even the possibility of such emotions, and even were they capable, all other records of Metroid behavior have shown mindless hunger to be their only response to _any_ lifeform save themselves, every time. The chance that this one creature would break the mold are beyond belief. Regardless, Aran turned the Metroid over to Federation officials (a remarkably coldheated move _if_ her story of the beast's feelings were true) for scientific testing.

This was where Aran's most recent, and most spectacular, adventure began. Space Station Ceres, where the Metroid was held, was assaulted by Space Pirates led by "Ridley" yet _again_. Aran followed the Pirates back to Zebes, where they had rebuilt their forces. There, in a display one could almost believe was intentionally planned to outdo her previous stint on Zebes, Aran killed not only Ridley, Kraid and Mother Brain (who had also been "resurrected,") but the remaining two Pirate Lords, Draygon and Phantoon, as well. While the absolute crippling of the Space Pirate command is unarguably a good thing, the following destruction of the _entire planet_ of Zebes is far less so. Aran's report was that Mother Brain had set charges to detonate the core of the planet in the event of her death. And since Aran is the only surviving witness to the adventure of legal credibility (all other bounty hunters attempting to take advantage of the skyrocketing prices during the incident having apparently been conveniently killed by the Pirates), one must once again admit that no evidence exists to doubt her story. Aran also claimed that the last of the Metroids was killed as well, rendering the species extinct at last.

This brings us to the main story of the evening. With the Space Pirates crushed and the Metroids extinct, the threat to the universe appeared to have been neutralized, and Samus Aran could now return solely to her chosen profession of bounty hunting without needing to save intelligent life as we know it every tax day. However, she instead chose a different path-a return to Planet SR-388, the home of the Metroids. Further information on the revelatory events that occurred there will return after this commercial break.


	2. Chapter 1: Hard Luck Woman

_**Chapter 1: Hard Luck Woman**_

The first thing that entered Samus Aran's head as she opened her eyes was that it was far too bright. This led her to rule out any number of conclusions. She was not on board her gunship, the _Chozo_; she would have never set its lights on this level power, no matter what she might have been under the influence of. Furthermore, she was not passed out down an alley or in a tavern. While not as frequent as it was in her younger days, that was still the source of most of her experiences waking up with short-term memory loss and a splitting headache. Those exhausted her regular options, and so she concluded that whatever had happened was decidedly _irregular_. Still, at least she was still alive. That was what was important, and so she relaxed before continuing to think.

Further examination led Samus to discover that she was currently located in a comfortable bed underneath the lamp she had first noticed. After fighting down the momentary surge of dismay, she realized that it was a hospital bed. While still not a good thing, it was at least preferable to her first thought if she couldn't remember the last few nights. Glancing around again, she finally noticed the room's other inhabitant, a Zebesian crustacean with a grey armored carapace and crab-claws instead of hands. In her muddled state, Samus almost sprang upon what she perceived to be an enemy before she recognized the ludicrous peg leg, eyepatch, false beard and black hat. Only one Zebesian in existence would allow himself to wear that without suffering terminally ruptured pride.

"About time you came to." Horzat growled, his single eye's golden glow seeming pale in comparison to the overhead. "I was beginning to think you were in a coma. That'd be a disaster for my sales over here."

"Horzat. What the hell did you do to me?" Samus growled. "Don't give me that sales-disaster crap, you'd just drink all the booze yourself. Why am I in the hospital?"

"Because you're hurt badly," Horzat said sarcastically. "No, just kidding. You went on a bender and entered med school. This is your bunk. You start classes in half an hour."

"Don't make me kick your ass without even getting up," Samus threatened. "I'll do it. I _got_ that I was hurt, thanks so much. I know what a hangover feels like, and now that I've been up for more than a minute, I can tell this isn't it. My whole body aches like a trucker ran me down, and I can't remember the past couple days-maybe even _weeks_-for shit. So I'd appreciate a heads up, since I can only assume by your current presence that you were there."

"I wasn't, actually," Horzat snapped. "I heard about what happened and came in. Eventually had to bribe that bastard Todar to let me stay here. You're paying me back for that, by the way."

"So you're suddenly concerned for my health, are you? That's sweet," Samus said with a smirk. "Nice try. Why the hell would you do that?"

"Because somebody had to!" Horzat suddenly yelled, rising to his feet. "We both know there's nobody else still alive on either side of the universe who'd wait around here for your sorry ass!"

Neither of them spoke for a while following that outburst. Samus looked down, and Horzat away, both of them obviously uncomfortable. There was no other noise; the machines were absolutely silent, even as they ran. With the door closed, no other noise from the rest of the facility leaked through either.

"Didn't want you to wake up to this alone, s'all," Horzat muttered finally, sitting back down. "Not in a hospital. You don't deserve that. Nobody does. Maybe Kraid."

"Right." Samus coughed, then rolled her eyes. "God. The only guy in the galaxy who even gives a tenth of a damn about me is my bartender. When did my life become such a stereotype? This whole thing is straight out of a ten-credit holovid."

"Not quite." Horzat raised an eyebrow. "If this was a holovid I'd be human, a stud and half my age, and we'd be screwing after the hunk of the season died in your arms. And don't even get me started on Ridley."

"So we kill the first guy who approaches me with a contract offer. Good to have that clear," Samus bantered further, then dropped it. "It was that bad this time, huh?"

"Yeah. It was that bad this time." Horzat said, looking away again. "Take a look at yourself and you'll see how bad."

"What-" Samus objected, then fell silent as she saw what he meant. Under the hospital sheets, she was still wearing her Chozo power suit. Or at least, part of it. The organic component underneath the actual armor, that fused her flesh with the mechanical exoskeleton. She'd never actually seen the entire thing exposed before, but she recognized it from diagnostics and repairs. The only part that was intact was the grey beam cannon that covered her entire right arm. Before she could stop herself, she mentally commanded her helmet to pop on, and it settled over her head, growing from behind her neck. Immediately, she snapped it back again. The only conclusion was obvious. "Fuck the _pope_. My power suit's wrecked, isn't it."

"What isn't on you is in _chunks_, I'm afraid," Horzat admitted, finally meeting her eyes again. "Sorry, kid. It's gone. And before you ask, the reason they left that on you is damn complicated. And it's got to do with what happened to you."

"So fill me in," Samus urged him. "Come _on_, old crab. What the hell _is_ this?"

"Let's take it slow." Horzat leaned back. "See if you can remember the last time I saw you."

"Well, if you weren't around when this happened..." Samus forced herself to think back. "That'd be when we checked in at the Wall..."

* * *

By far the most useless, ostentatious waste of resources the Galactic Federation had ever thought of, the Wall was not exactly what its name proclaimed-such a thing would have been impossible in deep space. Even the approximation, a massive field of space stations and patrol cruisers with enough sensors and armament to destroy an entire fleet at any point of entry, was considered ridiculous by Samus Aran. That was because it attempted to cover the _entire extent_ of Federation space, enclosing it from all directions to mark the limits of how far their grasp could reach, and blocking hyperspeed travel from either side. It was still possible to go around-space was funny that way-but even in hyper, such a trip would take years. Beyond Federation space was referred to as simply "the Far Side," and travel either way was strictly regulated when it happened, which wasn't very often.

Such would go a long way to explain the bored, nearly emotionless look on the Federation officer's face at one such station when a pair of beings entered his office. "Samus Aran." He greeted the more recognizable of the two laconically. A heavyset human male in his mid-thirties with close-cropped brown hair, his standard grey power suit was exactly like every other minor officer across a hundred galaxies. "Leaving civilized space again, I see. Looks like there's nearly an entire fleet of freighters with your ship this time. That all yours?"

"No, it's his. Our accounts are separate." Samus Aran, legendary bounty hunter, indicated her companion. Clad from head to toe in her thick orange-and-yellow power suit, she had her helmet down at the moment, revealing her as an attractive blond human. "He's just riding in my ship so we've got somebody to talk to. It's a long haul even in hyper."

"Figures that it couldn't be simple." The officer rolled his eyes, then glanced at Horzat for the first time. "Well then, mister-" As he actually saw who accompanied Samus, his eyes widened for a moment before he jumped to his feet, scrambling for a blaster at his hip.

"Don't do anything stupid," Samus advised him. "Do you really think I'd be giving a _Space Pirate_ a ride in my ship? _Me?_"

"I-well-" The officer stammered, although he did leave the weapon holstered. "But he _is_ a Zebesian!"

"Can't argue that, I suppose." Horzat, who had been watching the affair with an amused look so far, finally spoke. He was the only one of the three not wearing a power suit; a Zebesian's carapace was all he needed, even in deep space. "Name's Horzat. The job sucked, so I quit. Bailed out right before the trannie's first visit and provided the Federation intel for her, so I got myself pardoned."

"For the last time, don't fucking call me that," Samus growled wearily. "It's not _my_ fault the idiots who did all those reports on that first job decided I was male without actually checking."

"I, uh, see." The officer sat back down, clearly out of his depth. "Well, you do seem to be moving a large quantity of things over to the Far Side, Mister Horzat. I must warn you, all military armaments above Federation standard must be confiscated for proper processing."

"You hear that, Samus? I'm a Mister now. Told ya I'd move up in the world someday." Horzat leaned back in his chair. "Go ahead and have your boys search the ships, but if I find a single bottle missing I'm payin' Samus whatever she charges to kick it back out of them. It's all for the bar I'm setting up on the Far Side. Used to operate off of Magani, but the scene there lately's been too much even for me. I don't mind drunks and druggies, but when the new age retro hippies and the insane cultists set in, I ship out."

"Can't say I blame you." The officer chuckled weakly. "I'm afraid that goes for yourself as well, miss Aran. We'll have to ask you to leave all your armament with us, as well as allow us to search your ship."

"'Fraid not, chum," Samus said with a smile, showing him a pocket computer terminal. "I've got a special dispensation from Commander Todar over at Optimus. The job I'm heading over for is on the Federation's dime again, but this time they actually decided to make that apparent. You have no idea how sorry I am not to trust you boys with my gear. Especially since I still haven't seen any of the stuff I left with you the _first_ time I crossed over. About five or six years ago. Don't suppose you happen to know where all that is?"

"Processing is done at Optimus due to Federation standards," The officer replied sourly, inspecting the screen she had handed him and checking up on it with his own Uninet connection. "This all seems to be in order. Very well. I'll have my men begin checking Mister Horzat's cargo immediately. We'll also have to give him a physical to ensure that you're not carrying anything on your person. Not that we don't trust him, but protocol is protocol. I'm sure you understand."

"Of course." Samus stood. "I'll head back to the ship, then. See you when your cavity search is through, crab."

"Oh boy. Party time," Horzat muttered as she walked out.

Returning to her Hunter-class Gunship, the_ Chozo, _Samus idly sat in the cockpit and paged through the latest news until her bartender returned. Nothing really caught her eye, so she focused on him as soon as he sat down in the seldom-used copilot's seat. "For your sake, I hope you _did_ remember to take out all of it before we went in there."

"Of course. Eye, leg, claw, the lot of it. Left it all in the sink." Horzat scratched at the stump of his right claw, clearly missing the cybernetic replacement that usually plugged in there. "I'll put everything back in once we're clear. Good thing you had that dispensation from Todar, or we'd have a hell of a time bringing all the heavy stuff over here."

"It was a pain in the ass to get it from that bastard. Had to agree to forget the bounty on Brain to get him to do it, in the end." Samus shook her head in disgust. "It was worth it, but still. Piece of shit Fed."

"Hey, whatever works." Horzat shrugged philosophically. "He'll probably be suspicious, though."

"Whatever works, my ass. You weren't the one giving up six million." Samus continued to mutter. "And he's _always_ suspicious. Granted, this time he might be right, but that's only from his standpoint. We're not going to fire the first shot."

"But with how they were acting over Matrix, it's just gotten too suspicious. If we're just paranoid, all well and good, but if we're not, we'll be ready," Horzat repeated for the thousandth time. "Somebody's got to be, after all. Heh... I still can't get over that. All this time you've been saying the people who call you a hero are idiots, and you've just been doing it for the money. And now you're planning something like _this_."

"It's still self-interest," Samus replied automatically. "The only thing more important than money is my freedom. If the friendly Federation turns imperial, it doesn't take a genius to see it's not long before independent agents like me get the 'join up and/or die' job offer. Nuts to _that_. Besides, even without Brain's bounty I still made enough out of that second Zebes job to keep even me happy for a while."

"Yeah, I noticed when you actually paid off your tab," Horzat cracked. "Kept looking around for flying pigs when you did that. Well, if you've got cash to blow, this is a good way to do it. Once we get a base established out of their control, we'll have a fighting chance."

"And that's worth a million shitheads like Todar and shit jobs for the Feds," Samus reluctantly agreed. "I know, I know. It still sucks."

"_Life_ sucks, and then we die," Horzat reminded her. "Just get the job over with, even if they're making you head back to SR-388. I'll stay in contact with the Firkgon and all the rest of the guys back in Federation Space, so we'll cover anything that happens. Then when you're done there, we'll move on. It'll be fine, kid. You always come out of things in one piece."

* * *

"SR-388." Samus snapped her fingers. "Now I remember. The Feds wanted me to take a job from one of their corporations. Biologic Space Laboratories. I always thought 'BSL' sounded like a sandwich."

"If you can stop thinking with your stomach, and focus?" Horzat tapped his claw against his leg. "Humans. All right, you've got that much."

"Yeah. I dropped you off on planet Krager to get set up, then headed off with a hangover," Samus recalled. "Docked with a BSL cruiser, met the bigwigs there, and slept it off before heading down to SR-388 the next morning."

"That syncs with what I heard from those twerps, yeah," Horzat said. "Keep thinking. What happened after you actually got down on SR-388?"

* * *

"So, you boys are having problems with the wildlife?" Samus asked conversationally as she made her way across the rocky surface of SR-388. Three BSL scientists in silver power suits were following her, all of them looking for a cavern entrance. SR-388's surface was uninhabitable; the native life had developed in a massive network of subterranean catacombs.

"Yes, ma'am," One of them, a middle-aged male named Dunn, said. "Our theory is that your extinction of the Metroids several years ago threw the ecosystem out of whack."

"Hey, for the record, that wasn't my idea," Samus pointed out. "The Feds were the ones who wanted it done. Maybe I should have thought it over a bit more, but I was way past sick of Metroids by that time, so the prospect of stopping that permanently was very attractive at the moment. I don't get why wiping out the Metroids would be such a big deal, though. I mean, nothing really went after them, and they were pretty unselective-if it lived on SR-388, it was prey. Removing them from the food chart shouldn't have thrown it off much."

"That's not strictly accurate, I'm afraid," Jin, the only female scientist, corrected her. "While you're right about the Metroids not having any predators, they did tend to feed on some species more than others. In particular, we have now discovered that their main diet was an energy-based lifeform we've named the 'X.' Their hunger for draining life-force from other animals was actually a secondary method of feeding. At the time of your previous visit, Metroids still kept the X population low enough that you probably never even saw one."

"Can't say that classification rings a bell," Samus agreed after a moment. "Energy-based, huh? That's a new one on me. I see what you're talking about now, though. Without Metroids around, the X must be breeding out of control. Do they even have any other natural predators?"

"None." Gori, the eldest scientist, shook his head. "Metroids were the only ones who could eat them. Now they prey on everything else on the planet, just like the Metroids used to. But the X don't limit their breeding, like Metroids did. It's already a few years, and they're already threatening to overrun the entire planet."

"So that's why you guys are doing this scientific expedition now." Samus snapped her fingers. "Your time for getting live samples of the wildlife is running out. If the X keep it up, they'll drive everything _else_ on this planet extinct too. They're not smart enough to figure out that with nothing else to eat they'd be toast as well."

"Well, that's not-hey, there's a cavern over there!" Jin pointed.

"Right, let me check it out first," Samus instructed, then headed in. Looking into its depths, she saw an eight-foot drop onto a cluster of flourishing vegetation. "There's stuff growing in here. It's good. Come on in, boys; I don't see anything mean just yet." Dropping onto the plant life, she experienced a brief feeling of nostalgia as she looked around. Around her, a subterranean world spread out for miles. Rocks and earth in a million shades of grey, brown, black, and red with splashes of other colors spread out for miles, tunnels and caverns networking them in a complex pattern that would put any intelligent maze designer to shame. Strange plant life that could never have grown above land flourished over it all, and from far below, a rumble warned of the possibility of an acid flood. The surface was nothing; only now was she back in the _real_ Sr-388.

The feeling was only reinforced as an angry Hornoad burst out in front of her. Purple and warty, the fanged amphibian lunged for her only to be blown away by a few shots from the beam cannon covering her right arm. As the scientists landed, carefully avoiding the smoking remnants, Samus searched the rest of the area for hostile wildlife and eliminated it with a few more easy blasts.

"Very professional, Miss Aran," Gori said approvingly when she returned.

"I'm getting paid to guard you boys, right?" Samus shrugged. "S'what I do. What were you saying up there?"

"About the X? Well, it's not strictly true that they'd go extinct," Jin explained as they continued down a tunnel, Samus listening even as she cleared the way of critters. "You see, they don't just feed on other life. They actually absorb it. Not the bodies themselves, but everything that's contained within them."

"You mean like DNA?" Samus frowned. "Don't really get all that Popular Science shit myself, but I know a little."

"Exactly. And then, using what they absorb, they're able to take a physical form identical to what they've consumed." Dunn glanced around nervously. "Anything that looks like another lifeform down here could really be an X."

"You know, somehow, I _never_ get told about these little details ahead of time." Samus' eyes narrowed as she scanned the wildlife with much more paranoia. "There's no way to tell at all, huh? Not giveaways?"

"None. That's the really scary thing," Gori continued grimly. "It's not just physical data. The X have been shown to actually replicate the instincts, and even knowledge, of their victims. If they absorb a mother animal, and then replicate her, the copy will know where her babies are hidden, and lead their fellow X to them. We've seen it happen dozens of times."

"Okay. That's just fucked up." Samus shook her head. "Even Metroids only drained life energy. Copying something's brain? What happens if they eat humans?"

"We... worry a great deal about that," Jin admitted. "Several of our colleagues have been lost on this planet to the X already, but we have yet to see any replicants of them from the X. In a way, that's more frightening than finding them would be."

"Got that right." Samus crushed the surge of worry that was building in her. _You've seen worse than this. A _lot_ worse. Chill. Handle the mission and get out._ "Well, much as this is looking like a shit job from a _personal_ standpoint, I gotta admit, you probably made the right call bringing me in from your guys' perspective. This is gonna take the best to pull off. Let's just get what we came for and get out as soon as possible."

"That is indeed the plan." Dunn chuckled nervously. "Good to see we're all on the same page, I suppose."

"Oh, absolutely fucking wonderful." Samus snickered as well. "All right, last question. How do I kill these things? I mean, I assume the fakes will die just like the real things, but they're "energy-based," whatever the hell that means, right? So I'm still gonna have to kill the actual X after that. What do I do?"

"Ah." Gori paused, and all three of them took a careful step back. "That... would be the actual reason the Federation contracted you, Miss Aran. Your Chozo Power Suit has access to varieties of weaponry that the rest of our society has not yet developed. The Federation hoped that at least one of them would prove effective."

"I see." Samus froze as well, devoting all of her energy to not wringing their pencil necks. _Breathe. Calm. You're a professional, not a berserker._ "What you're saying is, standard weaponry doesn't do shit to them. You _can't_ kill them, and you're just hoping _I_ can. Without any actual evidence to back that up."

"That... seems to be the case," Jin agreed weakly.

"And the three of you risked your lives on _this_?" Samus demanded of them incredulously. "I'd be more pissed at you, but there's no way you guys actually made this call. Whoever did was one sneaky sonofabitch, and you three just proved you're about as sharp as a bowling ball. Hope you've got your life insurance filled out-I mean, I'll _try_, but right now I'm wishing I hadn't willed so much to my bartender. And I've had to escape from _planets_ set to self-destruct." She shook her head. "If we make it out of this alive, I'm gonna give some serious thought to a mid-life crisis a couple decades early."

"Well, if you wish-" Jin began to say, then choked as a Hornoad she had shot dissolved into a blur of light instead of expiring. "Look out! An X!"

"Damn!" Samus immediately changed her beam's settings, turning on the Ice Beam and firing. The beam passed through the yellow, slightly glowing blob of goo that was now floating in the air without effect. The Plasma Beam and Wave Beam were just as useless, as was the Spazer. Desperate, she started to prep a Power Bomb and yell for the scientists to run, but before she could, the X was on her, lunging through the air and colliding with her chest. There was a hideous stabbing sensation from something that felt _alive_ as it pierced her, and then it was gone. Shaking slightly, Samus stared down at her armor. The X was gone, and there was no sign that it had ever been there. Running a diagnostic, she discovered that her suit was completely fine, with no traces of the enemy lifeform.

"Miss... Aran? Are you all right?" Dunn asked hesitantly.

"I'm fine. Suit says nothing's wrong at all." She shook her head. "Guess it didn't work on Chozo technology. Anybody see where it went?"

"I'm afraid not. We all, well... cowered, to put it bluntly," Jin admitted. "We are not accustomed to violence."

"Ha! Well, at least you're honest about it." Samus chuckled. "Guess it ran off once it saw it couldn't get through. Must have spooked it."

"This is unprecedented," Gori told her quietly. "We've never seen a lifeform resist X possession before. Everything else they touched has immediately gone into a coma, and died soon after."

"Well, you boys called me in because I was something else, right?" Samus shrugged, spotting a chute leech gliding down and wasting it before it got close enough to drool acid. "Might not be quite the way you counted on, but if it works, it's cool. Let's get the job done with and get out, huh?"

"You're sure you don't want to call this off?" Dunn asked again. "If you want, we can get out of here and rush you to a hospital."

"Screw _that_. I'm getting paid good for this one." Samus laughed. "Plus the Feds'd be on my ass for it. Don't need that, thanks. If you're that concerned for my health, let's pick up the speed. I'll see a doc once we're done and I've collected my credits, okay?"

"It is your decision, Miss Aran." Gori shrugged. "Let us press onward, then."

* * *

"Attention, universe. I am a fucking _dumbass,_" Samus announced, burying her head in her hand.

"I was wondering when you'd figure that out." Horzat raised a nonexistent eyebrow, slouching forward. "I take it you remember how you decided _not_ to seek immediate medical attention after that thing hit you."

"Don't belabor it, crab," Samus growled, not removing her hands. "How'd you find out about that, anyways?"

"The science boys explained it all." Horzat shook his head. "Only up until you left the planet, though. You remember what happened after you got back to your ship?"

"Not much to say." Samus finally put her hand down, face grim. "I got back to the cockpit, and was in the middle of setting the _Chozo_ to fly towards a street doc I'd heard good things about. That's it-blacked out right there, and woke up here. Now it's your turn. What happened afterwards?"

"Well." Horzat looked away. "Promise you won't hurt me first."

"Why would you-" Samus started to growl, then stopped. A few moments of thought later, she slumped back. "I promise. Oh, damn. It's not just my suit, is it. Is there anything left at all?"

"None," Horzat said quietly. "Left half-programmed like that, your ship headed straight for an asteroid belt. The onboard computer launched you out in an escape pod and signalled the Feds, but I guess you had it programmed not to actually override your instructions. The _Chozo's_ gone, Samus. I'm sorry."

"Eight years, that ship was mine," Samus muttered. "Eight years, I keep it functional through Pirate attacks and emergency landings and meteor showers and everything else the universe throws at me. And all it takes is one act of bare-assed stupidity to make it all go poof. Figures." She closed her eyes. "Don't leave me hanging, crab. What happened after the Feds picked me up?"

"Well, they left me hanging a good few days before calling me up. Suppose I should be glad they bothered at all." Horzat sighed. "When I heard the news, I locked everything up and headed back to Optimus. That's where we are now, by the way. Shipped you all the way back here. The assholes weren't being any too specific, so I wanted to find out if I'd be buying you a drink, a wheelchair or a coffin. When I actually got here, well..." He looked her straight in the eyes. "That's the tricky part."

"Lay it on me." Samus stared back firmly. "I've lost my suit. I've lost my ship. It can't be worse than those."

"If you insist." Horzat shrugged. "Well then. Pulled in about two days ago, about 1900 Standard..."

* * *

"All right, what the hell's going on here?" Horzat stormed into the hospital's lobby, startling a dozing clerk. "You, desk jockey. What room's Samus Aran in? Oh, don't do that." He remarked in disgust as he saw the clerk's hand straying towards an alarm. "I'm not a Pirate. Name's Horzat. I bailed out of the organization. I'm a _friend_, you idiot. You need ID?"

"That would be appreciated, yes," The clerk admitted. "But I'm afraid we're only authorized to allow family members visitation rights."

"Bull," Horzat snapped. "Hold on a moment." Grabbing a pocket communicator, he dialed up a certain number, then blinked as a ringing came from a side room. "Wait a second-"

"You made better time than I expected, Mister Horzat." A middle-aged human male walked out, giving him a flat smile. Average and nondescript in every detail, Commander Todar of the Galactic Federation was wearing the same plain black suit as always, his fading brown hair neatly cut and styled. "We detected your ship landing on Prime, and I guessed it would be best for me to be on hand to greet you."

"You don't say. Suppose I should be flattered," Horzat grunted. He and Todar had met before, and it hadn't been on good terms. "For once I guess I'm actually glad to see your ugly mug, though. At least if you can get me past this clown to see Samus. I didn't come all the way here from the Far Side to get turned down by Minimum Wage Dan."

"Charming as always." Todar murmured. "Let's take a walk, shall we? Miss Aran is this way." He began strolling down a side hall, and after a moment, Horzat joined him. "I must caution you, she is not doing well. At the moment, she is actually undergoing treatment."

"Under the knife, huh? Well, I've seen worse." Horzat shrugged. "Details, Todar. The stooges who called me told me what happened to her, but only up until they shipped her back here. What's happened since?"

"Yes, I suppose you would have. Unfortunately, her progress has not been for the better." Todar shook his head. "The X Parasite was unable to infect her central nervous system instantly, as they could for other lifeforms, but in time it managed to penetrate, sending her into a coma. During her transfer to Prime, it continued to multiply within her body. The progression remains much slower than a normal human's, but it continues regardless, and we have minimal hopes for success."

"She's gonna bite it?" Horzat narrowed his eye. "Not without your boys doing everything and anything they can, she's not."

"Believe me, we are doing our best. Miss Aran is quite an asset to the Federation. We would regret losing her." Todar said as they walked into the overlook of the operating room. "I'm sure you can see that for yourself."

"What the fuck..." Horzat whispered as he looked down at what was left of the only person left in the galaxy he would, under extreme duress, call a friend. The Chozo Power Suit that had been Samus' method of survival through all of her adventures had been vivisected, the outer shell cut open and peeled away to reveal the soft, biological inner workings that fused with her skin. About half the shell still remained, in bits and pieces, but it was obvious those would be removed soon as well. Beneath was a rubbery blue and pink surface, a harsh contrast to the armored orange and yellow he was used to. The only familiar part was the heavy gray cannon on her right arm.

"The X spread through her suit, as well as her body." Todar explained as Horzat continued to stare. "By removing the most concentrated portions, we were able to slow the spread of the parasites further. This gave us further time to attempt to locate a cure."

"She's gonna be pissed if she wakes up, all the same... but it'll be waking up, at least." Horzat finally turned back to Todar. "I hope. Any ideas? At all?"

"One. A desperate measure. As the designated next of kin, Federation law requires we obtain your authorization." Todar glanced at Horzat, something almost like humor twitching his eye. "An interesting fact, considering that you are not only fifty years her senior, but of entirely different species. One of these days, you'll have to tell me how you two managed to make that legally binding."

"Buy me a drink and we'll talk," Horzat said with a forced chuckle. "Lay it on me. What's the idea?"

"I'm sure you remember the last Metroid in existence." Todar walked over to a computer terminal. "An infant, brought back from SR-388 by Miss Aran and turned over to the Federation for a brief time before its abduction by the Space Pirates."

"Matrix. Of course I remember him," Horzat grunted as he clumped over to the terminal. "Never met the little bio-blip myself. He's dead, though. Ma Brain killed him."

"Indeed." Todar nodded. "But before its abduction-"

"His." Horzat corrected.

"As you wish. Before _his_ abduction..." Todar smiled again, just as flat as before. "Dr. Olvarey of Space Station Ceres took a cell sample, which we still have on hand. It has been proposed that we use this to create an experimental serum, and inject it into Miss Aran."

"Wait. Hold on. You want to put _Metroid_ cells into Samus?" Horzat said, his voice rising. "Cut the bullshit. What _exactly_ would that do to her?"

"We are uncertain, hence the risk," Todar explained smoothly. "I am not a scientist myself, and even those who are claim a massive amount of unpredictability over the treatment's results. However, I believe it is safe to say that her biological nature would be permanently altered."

"So, what? She'd be some sort of human-Metroid fusion?" Horzat demanded. "I don't like the sound of that one bit."

"We are not particularly pleased with the idea ourselves, but we are running out of time." Todar crossed back over to look down at Samus again. "The last of the exterior of her Power Suit will be removed today. The interior systems are too closely melded with her own body for us to continue with those. Only her own conscious directive can cause those to detach."

"So if we use this Metroid shit on her, it'll be on both her own body and what's left of the suit, right?" Horzat guessed shrewdly, clomping back over as well. "What'll that mean? Don't try and tell me it won't have an effect."

"Possibly." Todar shrugged. "The scientists told me there's a fifty percent probability that the suit will become permanently bonded to her skin. The helmet would still be retractable, at least... however, the rest of her body would be permanently encased. That's only a possibility, however. We still don't know nearly as much about Chozo technology as we wish. Miss Aran may be able to remove it through some other method we have been unable to guess at, or the suit may not be permanently bonded at all, if we're lucky."

"Still more bad news, all the same," Horzat groused. Below, doctors began slicing off remaining bits of the exterior shell. Looking closely, Horzat could see tiny traces of bright yellow goo as they made the incisions. "That shit the X?"

"Yes. Fortunately, while incubating in a new lifeform, it does not spread to another until its current host is consumed, so the doctors are safe," Todar rattled off mechanically. "Miss Aran, on the other hand, is in critical condition."

Horzat remained silent for some time, watching them work. By his side, Todar continued to stand as well. Finally, the Zebesian sighed. "How long does she have?"

"We estimate seventy-two hours once this operation is complete," Todar answered.

"Do it." Horzat turned away, towards the exit. "Give her the Metroid cells. Do whatever you can, that'll give her any chance of survival. Even if it turns her into a half-Metroid freak. She'll probably never forgive me, but it's better than her being dead."

"The Galactic Federation appreciates your cooperation in this matter," Todar said with one more chill smile. "We will keep you informed on the details as matters progress. Have a nice day, Mister Horzat."

Horzat didn't answer, or turn around to see Samus again, but continued on heading towards the door, his one remaining eye tightly shut.

* * *

"I'm a fucking Metroid?" Samus whispered, holding up her left hand to stare at it. It still looked human-shaped, under the slick blue surface. Examining her entire body again, she saw that even that had some holes and gaps in it, revealing the final layer of pale yellow beneath.

"Something like that. I never did get a really straight answer out of them," Horzat growled. "But as soon as they put that shit in you, the X started dying. Whatever happened to you, it melted them down like that." He snapped his claw. "They didn't just go poof, either. They had you on an IV before that, but as soon as that happened, you didn't need it any more. Seems the X got the tables turned on them-they tried eating you, but you ended up snacking on them. Once they were all gone, the docs said you'd need the IV again, but it looks like you woke up before they actually put it in. I'm not gonna draw any conclusions as to what that means. You should be able to manage that all by yourself."

"Thanks awfully, crab," Samus muttered, closing her eyes. Something was different, all right. Not noticeable right off the bat, but underneath the surface, there was something new. Or maybe something old, that she hadn't felt in a long time. _Fear. I'm afraid of what I've become. What they turned me into._ "You got a mirror?" She asked suddenly.

"You don't look any different." Horzat shook his head.

"Okay, but. Can you get me a mirror, or something?" She pleaded. "Come on, crab. I'm an invalid, here. Cut me a break."

"Yeah. All right." Horzat sighed, standing up. "Just a moment." He left the room, and Samus immediately regretted asking him for that.

"Shit." Alone, she stared down at her hand again. Slowly, she turned it over, palm up. "What am I even looking for?" She shook her head; there was no physical change. It was all mental. Fear, something she'd thought she'd put aside forever. It hadn't bothered her for years. Now, though... now, she looked down at her own hand, and shivered.

"Cut it out," Samus admonished herself. "Think about something else, dammit." Anything was better than fear. Pain, that was something she was used to, and it was certainly present. Everything ached. Irritation, that was another good one. She was far from a saint, and she felt pretty rightly pissed off at the Feds for sending her in without all the details. Confusion, that worked, although it wasn't as constant as the others had been. No matter which way this turned out, her life wasn't going to be the same as before, that was obvious. Hunger. As Horzat said, the IV had been out, and...

As her stomach growled, three tiny fangs popped out of her palm.

"_Fuck!_" Whitening, Samus heaved, glad after all that there was nothing to bring up. Nausea swept over her, and the palm-fangs vanished. Shivering, she shoved her hand under the blankets, then looked up as Horzat reentered.

"This do?" The Zebesian grunted, lugging a huge, square mirror twice his size across the floor slowly.

"You didn't." Despite her freak-out just moments before, Samus couldn't help but smile. "You did _not_ wreck the public bathroom."

"I sure as hell did." Horzat pulled it up against the wall. "You want a mirror, you get a mirror. Like there's any place else in here I'd get one. There you go, Barbie. You can put on your makeup now."

"Go to hell. Do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred credits." Samus stared into the mirror. Attractive human features, long blonde hair, all the same as before. Nothing had been altered on that score. Slowly, she opened her mouth, and was relieved to see a lack of fangs. "Well." She forced herself to sound jovial. "At least I didn't sprout fangs or turn translucent. That's one thing off of my mind."

"Told ya." Horzat grunted. "I'm not hauling that back, by the way. You get to explain it to Todar when he comes in. Or the nurses. I saw one big guy who's just your type."

"Not in the mood right now, for some reason." Samus rolled her eyes. "So. I'm healthy now, at least?"

"Docs said if you woke up, you'd be A-OK. You'll probably want to get a couple more days of rest, at least." The Zebesian shrugged. "Anything else you need?"

"Yeah." Samus narrowed her eyes. "I need you to stop me from killing the first idiot who tries forcing me to eat hospital food."

"One Mick Burger, fries and a soda it is." Horzat nodded. "Don't think a beer would be a good idea. I need to get out of this joint for a while anyways. I'm starting to smell like antiseptic. I'll be back in an hour. Or maybe two. Three, at the latest. Probably."

"I'll still be here when you get back." Samus closed her eyes. _Meditate. That's what I'll do. Won't think about _anything_ until somebody else comes back in. Haven't done it in a long time, but Chozo lessons tend to stick with a girl._ "Not like I got anywhere else to go."

"Didn't figure you would." Horzat opened the door, then grinned at her over his shoulder. "Sleep well. Trannie."

The barrage of curses that followed him out kept the smile on his face all the way to the hospital's front door.


	3. Chapter 2: Stray Dog Strut

_**Chapter 2: Stray Dog Strut **_

Galactic Federation Headquarters was, to nobody's surprise, the most massive fortress in the known universe, dwarfing even the underground complex of Tourian that had been the Space Pirates' base of operations on Plant Zebes. The mechanical sprawl of buildings and roads covered fully half the entire planet of Optimus, spreading out in all directions from the center like an artificial lichen of industrialization. The closer to the center one got, the taller the buildings loomed, and the tighter-packed they were, until one reached the heart of the Federation, where domes covered the skies over a dozen spires that nearly cleared the atmosphere. It was a common joke in the rougher areas of civilized space that the Federation Star Tower required hinges near its top in order to allow Optimus's twin moons to pass by.

It was into this complex of law and order that Samus Aran, bounty hunter, strolled casually one week after her awakening in the hospital room. The private aircar chartered to bring her to her destination waiting at the curb, she jumped out in front of the central buildings. Her helmet was down, but the rest of her Power Suit-or what was left of it-still covered her from neck to toe. The change from its previous appearance was not lost on the Federation officials who went about their business in their own uniform steel-grey armor. Some stared openly, but most averted their eyes, and a few even made prompt turns and headed in the opposite direction with haste.

_I could get used to this_, Samus thought with a smirk. Federation men and women had always viewed her with respect before, but the fear had always been only visible around the edges. Now, it seemed that news of her transformation had spread, and changed things more than a little. To her relief, the palm-fangs had seemed to be the only _physical_ change to her body visible so far. She had not, however, attempted to detach the Power Suit yet. After hearing Horzat's story, she had decided that she really didn't want to know just yet if she would be able to, or if it would be bonded to her permanently. Living in fear of that possibility was annoying, but she had coped with worse.

"At least I still have my gun," Samus muttered absently, causing a passing tech to flinch. Turning her head, she smiled brightly, and the tech scurried off even faster. Snickering, Samus continued on into her destination, one of the core tower buildings. They probably all had different purposes and names, but Samus had never cared enough to learn what they were, and still didn't. The odd-dozen of workers clustered in the hallway were a different matter, however, turning to stare as she entered. Suddenly struck with a whimsical notion, Samus grinned back, then gave vent to a piercing, warbling shriek that she had heard a hundred times before, and could imitate quite well.

"_Skreeeeeee!_"

Jumping at least a foot into the air minimum each, the workers fled, a couple of them actually screaming.

"I see your sense of humor, at the least, has survived your recent difficulties with little to no permanent damage, Miss Aran." Commander Todar's dry voice came from the only door none of them had fled through. Walking in, the Federation man gave her a smile carefully practiced to convey absolutely no emotion. "How very amusing."

"What can I say? Something about watching 'em flee in terror just makes me get all warm and fuzzy inside." Samus shrugged, her humor fading. "Well, I'm here on time just like you wanted. Suppose you want a thank-you or something for saving my life, or some shit like that. Horzat told me the whole story."

"That will not be necessary, Miss Aran." Todar shook his head, turning to lead her down the hall. "My decisions in regards to you were not derived from any personal sentiment. Rather, they were meant to safeguard your value to the Federation, which is considerable."

"Good. You'd have been waiting a hell of a long time if you had wanted one," Samus said blandly. "If we're being honest, though, I guess I _do_ owe you a thanks for not coming near me while I was healing up. I didn't really need to see you in my hospital room."

"I had surmised that you would not be appreciative of my presence while convalescent, and acted accordingly," Todar agreed. "It is in the Federation's best interests for me to continue to maintain as efficient a relationship with you as possible, as your liaison to Federation Command." He smiled again, this time with something almost like humor faintly visible. "Our personalities are, of course, extremely opposed, but Federation Command cares little for such details. They simply require that we accomplish directives with a minimum of conflict."

"You could have just said we don't have to like each other, just do our damn jobs." Samus snorted. "But that'd mean taking the stick out and dropping the fancy talk, and you know how much that stuff pisses me off, so you're probably not going to do that any time soon."

"In some respects, even we have similar outlooks, Miss Aran," Todar agreed. "Here is our destination." Turning, he opened the door into a large, computer-filled meeting room with multiple seats surrounding a giant central monitor and smaller displays covering the circular walls. Two of the five seats were already occupied by middle-aged men.

"What's all this? We never needed other guys butting in before," Samus said, looking over the newcomers. One was obviously a scientist, wearing a traditional white labcoat. Lean and black-bearded, he smiled briefly as he saw her. The other man looked much more dangerous, clad in a lightweight, slim black Power Suit. Dark-skinned and heavily built, he was bald and heavy-browed, choosing only to stare at her without even pretending to smile. Frowning, Samus took her seat as well. "Commander Malkovich always said it was best to keep these things as informal as possible when dealing with unusual situations."

"I am sure you have noticed that Commander Malkovich's methods were not exactly synonymous with my own, Miss Aran," Todar said with a raised eyebrow as he joined them. "I am sure he was an excellent liaison during the time he served as such, but unfortunate circumstances happen to us all."

"Yeah, unfortunate circumstances." Samus leaned back and put her feet on the table below the center display, feigning nonchalance. "Any progress on how he died, by the way?"

"Investigations are still undergoing." Todar looked like he wanted to shrug, if it wouldn't have cracked his demeanor. "Unfortunately, we have yet to make any true progress."

"Why am I not surprised by this." Samus rolled her eyes. "You gonna introduce me to these two? And is another one coming?"

"Ah, yes." Todar nodded. "Gentlemen, as I'm sure you've guessed, the lady is the notorious Samus Aran. Miss Aran, may I introduce Commander Carl Kojin of the SCI division, and Commander Tom Samir of the NOC division. Our last colleague, it seems, is slightly tardy."

"SCI and NOC." Samus browsed through her knowledge of Federation department codes in her head. "The lab boys and the wet works, right?"

"A blunt, but accurate, definition of our divisions," Kojin agreed with a slight wince. "It's nice to finally meet you. Not many men of our rank have the honor."

"Honor. Man, I gotta remember to tell Horzat that one. He'll split his crust." Samus smirked. "You got a point, though. Only Commanders I've met were Malkovich, Todar here, and that one guy who's in charge of the bounties. Can't remember his name."

"Commander Jargol is no longer overseeing the BNT division," Samir said curtly. "Our overseers were not impressed with his decision to double the payoff on all Space Pirate bounties during the recent incident."

"Really? Damn." Samus shook her head sadly. "Poor guy. Maybe I can look him up and float him a loan. I suppose I owe him, after all. How much did you guys have to pay me for that, Todar? Nine million? Ten? Even after dropping the one on Brain, I think it was something like that."

"Perhaps _Sergeant_ Jargol will remember, should you choose to contact him again," Todar replied coldly.

"You busted him that far down?" Samus blinked in mock astonishment. "Sheesh. Malkovich never bitched that much about the bounties."

"Adam was a rare individual, Samus." A new voice cut in from the doorway, and Samus turned her head to stare at the latecomer. Much older than the other three, his silvery mane framed a thin, jovial face with an easy smile under literally rose-tinted glasses. Compared to the crisp, official garb of the other three, his three-piece suit in bright green seemed like a bad joke, but he wore it as casually as if it was a standard uniform. "I always liked him. Didn't always agree with his decisions, but I still liked him. Such a shame about his death. I still miss him sometimes." He paused suddenly, staring at her. "Do you?"

"That's none of your business," Samus growled, taken aback. _Wait a second. I've seen this guy before, somewhere. A long time ago. Where?_ Unfortunately, her memory proved unresponsive, and after a moment she gave up and turned to the more familiar face. "Todar, who is this joker?"

"Ah." Todar seemed unsure how to respond. "Well, you see-"

"Call me Renpou." The old man held out his hand, and after a moment, she shook it firmly, which seemed to delight him. "Don't worry about my rank or anything like that, it's not important. I'm just glad to finally meet you. Heard all the stories, of course, but they don't really compare to the real thing." Chuckling, he took his seat, then nodded at Kojin. "Hit the lights, huh, Carl? Might as well get this over with."

"Yes, sir." Kojin quickly turned out the room's overhead illumination, leaving only the monitors on. A moment later, neon green nameplates before each of them flickered into life.

"Cute." Samus glanced down at hers, simply reading _Aran._ "So where's the fire?"

"As I'm sure you recall, prior to your hospitalization, you were contracted to perform bodyguard duty for Biologic Space Laboratories, operating out of their research station orbiting planet SR-388," Todar explained, bringing up images of the planet and station. "At the Federation's request-and paycheck-you assisted scientists in collecting samples of the wildlife on-planet."

"Yeah, about that." Samus grunted. "I've been meaning to bring this up. Mind explaining why nobody told me about this X problem? All things considered, I think I've got a right to be more than just a bit ticked off about that."

"Ah," Todar said, glancing over at Renpou. "That was my decision, Miss Aran. I... apologize for keeping you out of the loop. Based on our interaction, it seemed you would have been reluctant to accept the commission if that detail had been intact."

"I ever tell you you're an asshole? Appreciate the sorry, though." Samus snorted. "First time you've ever given me _that_. You were wrong, by the way. I'd just have asked for more money."

"Well then, we'll just double the fee we agreed on, then," Renpou decided. "Of course we'll pay your hospital bill as well. Would that take care of any hard feelings, Samus?"

"It's a start," Samus said noncommittally. "There's still a couple more matters, though. My ship and my suit seem the most outstanding. Horzat told me you guys cut the latter off of me. Any particular reason I can't have the chunks back so I can try putting myself back together?"

"Um." Now it was Kojin's turn to look apprehensively at Renpou. "It seems I must apologize as well. To be frank, Miss Aran... I was convinced you would not survive the X infestation. When your suit's pieces were removed, I decided they would be best kept with other samples from that planet, and returned them to the facility currently covering SR-388."

"They're all the way back at the station?" Samus made a disgusted noise. "You Feds have a real smooth organization going here. Well, I figured you'd be asking me to go back there anyways, so I'll just pick them up when I get there."

"That is, unfortunately, the point of this meeting." Samir spoke again, the image of the BSL station zooming in. "Approximately twenty-four hours ago, we detected an unexplained explosion on the main deck of the research station. Analysis determined the precise location to be the quarantine bay, where new samples are initially stored. To be specific, the takings from your recent expedition, as well as the pieces of your Power Suit. Following the explosion, all contact with the station went dead. We have been unable to resume communications with the crew since, and must assume the worst, that some enemy force has attacked."

"Can't be the Pirates." Samus shook her head. "Oh, I know there's some of them still out there, but it hasn't been enough time for them to get their strength back up after Zebes. They probably haven't even resurrected any of their leaders. Even if it was, they wouldn't be going for something like that. Kraid's the only one who's even slightly interested in science, and BSL wouldn't be worth his time without the Metroids."

"That's correct." Renpou nodded slightly. "Please continue, Samus."

"There aren't any smaller crime organizations I've ever heard of in the area." Samus leaned back. "And I don't believe the natives in that region of the galaxy are particularly hostile. That pretty much shuts down intelligent life for a likely cause. It could have been an accident, of course. Some sort of chemical leak, or a plague." She narrowed her eyes. "I wouldn't bet on it, though. There's a far more likely explanation, and it's bad news."

"And that would be?" Samir pressed.

"The X." Samus held up her hand and stared at it. "I'll give you the benefit of not being total idiots, and keeping the chunks of my suit in total quarantine. But that's not the only way they could be onboard. The way I hear it, unless you kill it or study its behavior for days, an imitation of another lifeform built by the X is indistinguishable from the real thing. It only stands to reason that eventually they'd get one of them onboard the station. Matter of time. And if those things got _loose_, the crew wouldn't stand a chance."

"A convincing, albeit terrifying, argument," Todar agreed, not sounding particularly scared. "Should that be the case, we would require that an experienced agent be sent in to salvage as much as possible of the station. Preferably, we would wish that all traces of the X be eradicated, leaving the station clean for restaffing. Of course, this is all dependent on your hypothesis. Nothing has been confirmed, and in any case, we would prefer that the official investigation at the scene be performed by a professional known to be capable of handling such situations."

"In other words, me," Samus said drily. "And not just because I'm the best, either. Now that I've got that Metroid cell sample or whatever, the X can't get me."

"That does seem to be the case." Renpou leaned forward. "As if you were not impressive enough, Samus, you can now boast to be completely immune to these parasites, which are quite fascinating themselves. Not just immune, but you actually prey upon them. I wonder if you'll even need to eat anything else while there." The light glittered off his glasses as he stared at her. "An actual Metroid Fusion. Most extraordinary, indeed. You'll do it, then?"

"I want a million up front, and another when the job's done," Samus said bluntly, deliberately ignoring the chills running through her at the old man's behavior. _Used to be I could brush off creeps like this like nothing. This really _did _rattle me._ "And I want a new ship, too. I lost my old one on the Federation's dime, because the Federation didn't give me the right intel. You want me to do anything ever again, you're shelling out for a new one, not me."

"As a matter of fact, we already have a Hunter-Class Gunship prepared for you. The same model as your previous vessel. Top-of-the-line, right out of the Harran shipyards," Kojin told her. "Of course, most of its specifications are standard, so you'll have to make any personal modifications yourself. We did throw in a few personal touches, though. You can take it to leave Optimus this very evening, if you'd like."

"Fast work." Samus grunted. "What's the catch?"

"Your complaint about incomplete intelligence was noted before this meeting," Samir said, changing the display to show the Gunship in question, then glancing at Renpou before continuing. "When I heard of SCI's purchase, I made a few additions. Most importantly, the ship's AI has been replaced with one of our most advanced programs. It maintains a direct uplink to us at Optimus at all times, and will provide you with up-to-date information on any requested subjects. In addition, the AI will function as your Commanding Officer while-"

"What the fuck do you think you're playing at?" Instantly furious, Samus jumped to her feet and snarled at him. "I _don't_ put up with Fed spyware on my ship. I didn't let any of your snoops on the _Chozo_, and I don't want any on this one. And I sure as hell don't need a CO telling me what to do! You want somebody to kiss your ass and follow orders, send in the Star Marines!" The fangs in her palm were out again, digging into the fingers of her clenched fist.

"You ask us for a free ship, and when we give you one, you say you don't like it," Todar said with uncharacteristic bluntness. "The Gunship is yours, Miss Aran, AI included, and it's the only one you'll be getting from us. You may take it or leave it, but you won't be getting another. It's entirely up to you."

"The AI's inclusion was not a decision made lightly, Samus," Renpou continued, more calmly. "This will be a mission highly different from your previous ones for the Galactic Federation. Those were on hostile territory, and collateral damage was of no consequence as long as your objectives were met. This time, though, we need as much of the station to survive as possible. The AI will simply inform you of the most expedient way to accomplish that. The finer details, as always, will remain entirely up to you."

"I'm sure." Samus glared at them, one by one. "And if I turn the job down?"

"We will, of course, be forced to seek alternative measures," Todar explained, returning to his normal mechanical manner. "However, those chosen to carry out the mission would have no sentiment or use for the pieces of your Power Suit infested by X. Should the parasites turn out to be behind the disturbance, the men sent in would likely find it expedient to destroy all X-contaminated objects without exception."

"Thought so. You wouldn't lay this kind of shit on me unless you had me over a barrel." Samus shook her head in disgust. "The price just went up to two million now, and three when I'm done."

"Your terms are acceptable." Todar smiled. "Your ship is parked in Docking Bay 32. Do take good care of it."

"Fine. I'll do it." Samus turned on her heel. "Put the credits in my account, Todar. I'm getting off this stinking planet before I choke." Storming out of the room, she slammed the door behind her, still feeling their smiles on her back.

"Oh, and Samus," Renpou called as she reached the door. "Thank you."

* * *

"Purple." Samus stared across the docking bay at her new spacecraft as she approached it. "Out of all the colors in the universe, they had to paint it purple. I suppose I should be glad it isn't _pink_, but that's still ugly as shit. Well, at least I know what the first thing I'll be modifying when I have the time is. Wonder what color'd piss Todar off most. Plaid? Nah, probably just go back to yellow..." She thought about the implications of that for a moment, then shook her head. "No. This isn't the _Chozo_. That ship is dead. Shouldn't tempt myself to mix them up."

The atrocious paint job aside, however, Samus had to admit the ship looked like a nice piece of work. Like all of its model, it was shaped like a rounded stingray, the bulge in the center tapering off to the sides more gently then in the front and back. Unlike the _Chozo_, it rested on crablike landing legs instead of keeping the nullgravs running, and it was larger than her old ship, too. The size of a small house, it looked able to hold a crew of three to five, although Samus had never wanted or needed much help onboard her ship. The front of the ship had twin guns and missile batteries nestled on the underside, and hatches on both sides suggested that each "wing" held more. Walking around to check out the back, Samus examined the jets, and found them in perfect condition, though only standard for the ship's model.

"Engines'll be the same, too," Samus muttered. "Realspace and warp both. Guess that's fair. The Feds never knew how the _Chozo_ got her legs. Looks like I'll be bribing another dock boss at Harra to keep quiet, rip 'em out and put in bigger stuff off the record. Hope I don't need it before I'm done on BSL." Clambering onto a wing, she walked up to the portal on top. Once she was standing squarely on the circle of metal set into the hull, the ship recognized her and lowered it like an elevator, bringing her down into the ship's common room. As soon as she had stepped off, it went back up, leaving her to examine the interior further.

"I don't believe this. Carpeting." Samus made a rude noise, her reluctant approval of the ship fading into disgust once more. "They put _carpeting_ in a fucking _ship_. Puke green carpeting, even. And is that _gold_ trim?" Shaking her head, she spat on the floor. "Even in the galley nook. And pink wallpaper. Should have known that'd be somewhere. Goddamn Feds. There'd _better_ not be any survivors on that station. My rep'd take it right in the face if anybody else saw this before I get rid of it all. That bribe's gonna be a big one, all right."

The Captain's quarters proved to be even more luridly decorated, though there was no crew berthing to contaminate similarly-that would need to be added into a cargo bay if she wanted it. The engine room, fortunately, was all business, though she had been right about the engines; their replacements would also require a wall into one of the cargo bays to be knocked down, but it would be worth it. The wing gun capsules, on the other hand, held a few thing she hadn't even been aware Hunter-classes could _use_, which was an upside. Aside from the décor, it was almost like being home again; the layout was identical to the _Chozo_'s, and she hadn't kept many personal affectations on her previous ship to be painfully absent. Finally, Samus sighed and made her way to the cockpit, the last room on the ship.

"Guess I'll have to get it over with sometime," She admitted, then blinked as she entered. The control panel looked mostly familiar, but like the gun capsules, held a few additions that were actually welcome. "They put in a war display from a battlecruiser? Guess somebody thought I'd need as much selling as they could manage with that carpeting shit. I could direct an entire fleet using this thing." Fighting the urge to inspect it further, Samus moved into the pilot's seat with a straight-backed posture wholly unlike the flop she used dirtside. "Okay, computer. I know you're there. Let's have a little chat."

"As you wish." A mechanically neutral, though masculine, voice responded. "Before that, however, what should I refer to you as? Protocol demands that I record a preferred method of address for the ship's owner at first opportunity."

"If Hell freezes over and I ever end up needing a crew, make it 'Captain' as long as they're with us," Samus decided after a few moments of thought. "When it's just you and me, though, go ahead with 'Samus.' It's my name, after all."

"Directives saved, Samus," The computer replied after a moment.  
"Good. Is just 'computer' okay with you, then?" Samus asked, more out of a few remaining traces of politeness she had failed to purge than anything else. "Or is there something else you'd like better?"

"I do not contain the necessary capacity for emotional preference," The computer said smoothly. "However, I was given a name by my creators once installed on the ship. They dubbed me 'Adam' at that point."

"Adam. Mother_fucker_." Samus closed her eyes and grit her teeth, fighting to regain control of her temper. _Anger brings the hunger. Makes me want to find somebody, find Todar, put my hand against his face and_- Cutting off that line of thought, she focused her mind, ignored the pain in her hand, and slowly relaxed to a more passive irritation. "Well, you're not getting _that_ out of me, so computer it'll have to be."

"As you wish, Samus." Adam sounded like he would have shrugged, if he could. "What did you wish to discuss, then?"

"Not yet. You reminded me, first things first." Samus looked out the viewport at the docking bay and narrowed her eyes. "Get Optimus Nearspace Control on the line and prepare to lift. We're getting off this stinking dirtball."

"As you wish." Adam was silent for a few moments before speaking again. "Nearspace Control reports that you will be cleared for liftoff, but request one addendum before departure. Ship's registration filed by Commander Todar failed to provide a verbal identification for the vessel."

"The name. I was about to go into space without _naming_ it." Samus slammed her head onto the controls. "Thought I wasn't _this_ messed up any more. All right. This ship... call it the _Matrix_."

"Saved and forwarded," Adam replied, and from the back of the ship came the hum of the realspace engines heating up. "If I may inquire, what was the source of your emotional reaction to the question?"

"It's bad luck to go out in a ship without a name," Samus explained absently as she ran the pre-flight checkup. "Always has been. I think it was even back before anybody had space travel. It's one of those things that even intelligent life that had never encountered humanity before their discovery believed in, so it doesn't get the same sneering as most legends. A lot of dirtsiders still scoff at it all the same, but I've never met a spacer who didn't believe."

"I see. A superstition. How fascinating. Explanation saved," Adam fell silent once more, and Samus didn't bother speaking again either. "Preparing for takeoff."

"Oh, no you don't." Samus shook her head. "My ship. I run it. Go ahead and 'save' this: Keep the autopilot off unless specifically overridden by me, and only me. At all times." She thought for a moment. "Scratch that. If I'm unresponsive and a course that'll destroy the ship is set, you can take the controls. That's it, though."

"As you wish, Samus. Directives saved." Adam agreed curtly. "Realspace engines ready. All systems fully functional."

"Let's go." Samus nodded. The controls under her hands were as familiar as her old ones, save for the fancy add-ons, which she ignored for the moment. Her hands danced from one to the next, and in spite of herself, she smiled. _You'll always be a spacer at heart, girl. This is something you were made for._ In less than a minute, they were rising into the sky, and soon enough the blue and white faded to black, the stars around her once more. Relaxing the jets to a comfortable cruise, she relaxed mentally, though her body stayed rigid. "All right. _Now_ we can talk."

"What purpose for discussion did you have in mind, Samus?" Adam asked.

"A little clarification." She scowled. "I don't like you, and I don't trust you. I took this ship and you because I had to, and that's the only reason. But that reason's not a permanent thing. At the moment, as far as I'm concerned, you're an annoyance at best and an enemy at worst. I know the Feds have you programmed to spy on me for them, so don't bother denying it. What's worse, they expect you to give me orders. They said you're top-class AI, though, so maybe you'll understand this. If you don't want me to sell this ship and you both for parts on the Far Side's black market, you've got until this BSL job is done to convince me not to. Entirely up to you."

"Ah." If it was possible for a computer to look taken aback, it would have been happening. "Well. I shall endeavor to do so, Samus. Unfortunately, it may seem ill timing to inform you that Renpou requested a call from you before entering warpspace."

"Ugh. Speaking of getting things over with." Samus shook her head. "Put him through."

"Ah, Samus." Renpou's face appeared on a screen to her left. "I'm happy you're not angry enough to turn down my little request. I just wanted to apologize for a few odd touches I'm sure you've noticed about your new ship."

"Oh, yeah, I noticed," Samus agreed sourly. "Let me guess. Todar's ideas."

"Mark is a hard worker, but he can be a little petty on occasions." Renpou spread his hands. "Well, the advance is already in your legal account. I won't ask questions about where it goes from there." He chuckled.

"Good. Hate for you to find out I'm using it to supply the Space Pirates." Samus rolled her eyes theatrically.

"Ha!" Renpou grinned. "Good one, Samus. Well then, are you headed right for BSL?"

"Actually, I'll be making a stopover on Krager first." Samus explained. "Want to get bombed at least once before I go to work. This looks like one of those extended jobs, and I don't drink on the clock, so I want one last hurrah. After that, though, I'll go straight there."

"Excellent, excellent." Renpou nodded. "I'll send Adam there another clearance to get you through the Wall without an inspection. Your personal armaments are back on the BSL station, of course, but there wouldn't be much point in the extras in your gun capsules if we took them back almost before the wrapping paper was off, after all."

"Appreciated." Samus said grudgingly. "Is that all?"

"One more thing." Renpou moved his face closer on the screen. "What was it like killing Ridley again? After all the times you've done it, was there anything different?"

"Not _that_ appreciated." Samus snapped after a blank moment. "I don't share that kind of thing with anybody, especially Feds. Good night, mister Renpou." Cutting the link, she immediately began engaging the hyperspace engines, fastening the safety straps and plotting a jump point to Krager. The run to jump speed was easy, and after a burst of acceleration, the starry darkness around her faded into a monotone, blank white. "There we go. I'm going to take a nap, computer. Wake me when we hit the Wall and drop out if I'm not already up."

"As you wish, Samus," Adam replied. "Any other directives?"

"If you can access the galley, have coffee waiting," She replied after a moment. "Otherwise, nothing. Nice thing about hyper; the only problems are the ones you bring in with you. It's when you drop back out into realspace that things get hairy." She stood and headed for the back, flopping on the bed in the Captain's quarters without bothering to crawl under the sheets. Arms crossed under her head, she stared up at the ceiling, memories she had ignored for months returning thanks to Renpou's strange questions.

_"You and me are _warriors_, Samus. First and foremost." Ridley grinned as they circled each other in the air above Zebes' core, her power suit's armor upgrades and his insane resistance to heat protecting them as long as they did not fall. The Drakar's wings flapped, keeping his spindly body aloft, the scales more durable than a ship's shields and the claws capable of tearing said shields asunder. His prehensile, spike-tipped tail stabbed out, and his jaws gaped, spewing fireblast after fireblast. Always watching her, the glowing eyes tracked her every move as her Space Jump device let her propel herself through the air indefinitely, finally bringing them both into the heavens for the latest in a long string of duels. _

_"They call us many things, and many things we are. Bounty hunter. Space pirate. Human. Drakyr. Hero. Villain. Male. Female." Ridley's voice was dark and deep, but filled with a frenzied energy. "It all falls away before that one intrinsic fact. We love to fight. We _live_ to fight. Adrenaline filling our bodies, weapons scorching our skin. It's a high like nothing else in the world. That's why I keep seeking you out, no matter how many times I lose. The same reason you never turn me down, why it never gets old. Because you know I'm good for it. Because no matter how strong you get, there's always the possibility that this time will be the time I do it, the time I kill you, and that keeps it interesting. That keeps it fun. Kraid, Phantoon, Draygon, even Mom; none of them give you that same thrill. We'll be enemies until the day we die, we've got nothing else in common, but this makes it almost like being friends!"_

"Fucking Ridley," Samus muttered. She'd killed him that time, just as she had most of the other times. She'd lost track of just how many there had been, and that would have been enough to worry her by itself. She hadn't been able to deny what he had said, then, and she still couldn't now. It was true; more than anything else, a fight was where she felt she most belonged, what she enjoyed more than anything else. And no matter how much she told herself she should hate Ridley, hate everything he represented, she had always been smiling when she was done with him. Always enjoyed it, more than any of the others.

"Wonder what the damn reptile would think if he could see me now," She mused, examining her palm again. The fangs came out, then retracted again; she could make them come out when she wanted now, though keeping them from doing so when she _didn't_ was harder. "Probably wouldn't like it. Armor's gone; I'll have to remember that. This'll still be _some_ protection, but not nearly as much. He probably _would_ be able to kill me, now, and that'd piss him off big time. Finally doing it, only because I was weakened? Yeah, that'd stay with him 'til he finally stopped coming back to life. Almost makes me want to do it, just to mess with him that much." She folded her hand back behind her head once more and sighed. "Wonder if they've brought him back yet."

Ridley was dead, but he had been dead before. Kraid, his best friend and the Space Pirates' genius, had somehow created a method of reviving dead bodies, even if they had been in cold storage for months, maybe years. Zebes had been destroyed, and the Space Pirates decimated, but Samus knew they would still exist, and they would have kept the bodies of all four of their slain Pirate Lords, for resurrection once they found a safe place to build the machinery required. The Pirates were the only ones with that technology, and they guarded their secrets absolutely; with their home planet completely gone, finding another stronghold safe from Federation eyes would take time. Ridley would likely still be dead.

"Keeps him from interfering in this, at least." Samus closed her eyes. "He can't pop up _every_ time. Didn't on SR-388, and he won't here. I'll have my armor back by the time I see him again. If I live through this one, anyways. Forget Ridley and get some sleep, girl. You'll need it."

* * *

"Dropping out of Warp in three, two, one..." Samus muttered as she returned to realspace, a sphere of brown and grey slowly growing before her. "All right, computer. Dial up Krager Nearspace control. Time to start earning your keep. They speak Fainlu on this planet. I don't. Do you?"

"Affirmative," Adam confirmed. "Shall I perform the customaries, or simply translate for you, Samus?"

"Hell with it," She replied after a moment. "Go ahead and do it. Might as well get use out of you."

"As you wish, Samus." Adam fell silent after that, doubtless speaking on the comm to the officials for a minute or two. "We have clearance to land. They request a one-week docking fee, non-refundable."

"Every cheap spacedock on either side of the galaxy pulls that when they can get away with it." Samus rolled her eyes as the _Matrix_ descended towards Zenga, the Portcity. Most spacers spent ninety percent of their dirtside time in similar communities; there was seldom any reason to stray any further. As a result, Portcities tended to be clusters of good entertainment and bad morals, and Zenga was no exception. "Just pay it. Bitching about it never gets anywhere." Pulling into the dock, she played with the nullgravs and parked the ship a foot off of the ground, then extended the landing legs. "All right, I'm off to get tanked. If I can find my way back to the ship I'll see you later tonight. Otherwise, tomorrow morning."

"Until then, Samus," Adam replied politely as she took the lift back out.

Zenga was a rainy town, at least at the moment. Judging from the galeforce winds and the buckets of liquid pouring down, unless Samus had been unlucky enough to land in a record storm, the weather was probably customarily grey. With her helmet up, however, she didn't much care; even stripped down, the suit kept her from feeling the wetness. Leaving the dock without bothering any of its officials, she continued down the streets, ignoring the passersby as well. She knew the route to her destination, and it wasn't long before she was approaching the old-style wood-and-stone building that boasted its name, _The Big Shot, _on the painted rooftop sign. Steel and holodisplays would actually have been cheaper, but the proprietor preferred the look.

"Well, well. Look what the womp rat dragged in," Horzat called out from behind the counter as Samus opened the door. "Still alive, huh. Figures."

"Oh, shut up. With how much money I pour into this place you should be happier to see me than a full load of off-duty Star Marines," Samus cracked back as she threaded her way through the bustling tavern. On a Far Side planet like Krager, humans were no longer the majority; at least a dozen other lifeforms filled the building. Massive Allgors, feathered Dachurai, tiny Etecoons, predatory Selvaurs, rambunctious Ctarl-Ctarl... none of them familiar. It was only when Samus found her preferred seat and glanced at the stool next to her that she smiled in recognition. "Welhaam? The hell are you doing on this side of the universe?"

"That's a wonderful greeting, Samus." The mollusk on the stool crinkled up the corners of her single fang-rimmed eye socket in a smile. "Hello to you too." A pink-hued, tentacled Elocto, Welhaam was a Uninet hacker by trade, and had a minor bounty on her head in civilized space. She had been a patron of Horzat's for years before then, however, and none of the regulars had ever been inclined to take a shot at her.

"Got a bottle of the local stuff with your name on it." Horzat smirked at Samus, waving a squat purple bottle at her. "Finest quality rotgut."

"Gee, thanks." Samus made a face; Kragerian rotgut was distilled from mushrooms. "Pass. Gimme the Optimal brandy instead. I'll give the Feds one thing, they know how to make good booze."

"Your call." Horzat shrugged and served it up, while Welhaam floated off of her seat.

"'Scuse me." She hiccuped. "I'ma go worship the porcelain goddess." The Elocto drifted off into the back rooms.

"Thought you said that bottle had my name on it." Samus watched her go, sipping her drink.

"She didn't have the rotgut." Horzat shook his head. "She had the Arcian red."

"What the hell's wrong with Arcian red?" Samus raised an eyebrow.

"Two bottles of it in twenty minutes." The former Space Pirate chuckled. "She won't be trying that again any time soon." He waved at one of the staff to take over handling the counter, and sat down across from Samus. "So, how's the new look going?"

"More fucked up than a drunk trying to land on Jupiter." Samus rolled her eyes. "My helmet is _pink_."

"Hey, at least they'll know you're a girl now," Horzat said with a smirk. "Wasn't referring to the color scheme department, though."

"Bah." Samus stared down into the tumbler of brandy. "I'm still alive. I'm still sane. Haven't gone on a bender and started chewing on people's heads yet. Haven't suddenly sprouted new internal organs. Far as I'm concerned, that's about all I can ask for."

"Guess so." Horzat looked at her for a moment, his remaining eye unblinking. "He'd be happy, you know? Matrix, I mean. Knowing that he saved your life again."

"One time should have been enough." Samus shook her head, forcing herself not to think of old memories, of Mother Brain's cybernetic monstrosity and the Metroid who had died to help her destroy it. "He shouldn't have had to die for my sorry ass."

"No. He shouldn't have," Horzat agreed bluntly. "But he was happy. That counts for something. And if there's an afterlife in this shitty universe, he's still happy. Because despite everything, you're still alive. Thanks to him. It's the only thing he really wanted, from what you told me about the little bio-blip."

"Right," Samus agreed reluctantly. "Doesn't make it okay, though."

"Guess not." Horzat shrugged. "So if it's that important to you, just don't screw up like that again. Don't come that close to dying. Ain't like _that_ would exactly break his little heart." He paused. "If Metroids even _have_ circulatory systems. Hell if I know."

"You know, sometimes you make a lot of sense, and sometimes you're just senile." Samus finally smiled. "What really gets me is that I can't tell the difference."

"Yeah, yeah. Everybody older than you is stupid. Damn kids." Horzat stood again. "Don't go cutting your wrists or nothing. I gotta go get a new keg." He stomped off towards the back as well.

"Crab." Snorting, Samus watched the local sports games for a bit. Once she had finished her brandy, she set the tumbler down on the counter and followed Horzat. The hall behind the main room had the restrooms clearly marked, but she ignored those, instead taking a stairwell down into the cellar. Once there, one more door took her into a soundproofed room where Horzat and Welhaam were waiting around a table, with three screens showing off-planet comm links.

"There she is." One of them snickered. "We were starting to wonder if you'd hooked up with a hot date." Gelltor was a Drakar, like the infamous Ridley, but he was much scrawnier and preferred picking pockets to blood and glory. He and Welhaam were old friends, and had a wide range of contacts among small-time criminals who claimed only to be interested in a decent living instead of following the Space Pirate flag.

"Watch it, man. She'll remember that, next time she actually sees you." A deep bass voice rumbled with laughter from the second. A hefty, reptilian Iz, Hrug was one of the deep-space shippers for the major cargo firms. It was a hard job, and those working it spent even more time away from civilization than other spacers. As a result, they were loyal mostly to each other, mistrusting most outsiders, and the Federation in particular.

"Samus. It's good to see you again." The last member of the group not physically present said politely. "I had heard of your difficulties." Unlike the others, the Firkgon always spoke to her with respect. The Evir species was organized in clans, and Firk's had been forced to join the Space Pirates under their former head, the Draygon. When Samus had killed the Evir Pirate Lord, Firk had led his clan back to their home planet, and had remained in contact with her since, even occasionally carrying word from them to the Evir Kingdok.

"It sucked. I got better," Samus summed it up, taking a seat. "All right, everybody. Let's get this business out of the way as soon as possible." She glanced at Welhaam. "First off. Why _are_ you here? How did you get through the Wall, even?"

"Got some dirt on one of the station Captains there," Welhaam explained with a nasty leer. "Some people really should learn to keep those kind of pictures offline. He was all too happy to let me get out off the record as long as I didn't pass his dirty laundry along to his superior officer. Anyways, there wasn't any real reason for me to stay in Federation Space, since I can make my own contributions to our little contingency plan here just fine from the Far Side. So when a chance to get out came up, I took it."

"Makes sense." Horzat grunted. "All right, anybody else got news before me and the trannie put the big stuff on the table?"

"Rumor on the streets says the Feds managed to nail a Space Pirate cruiser." Gelltor spoke over Samus' return insult. "Called _Heart of Norfair_, and the encounter supposedly took place only a couple systems away from SR-388. Haven't confirmed it, though."

"Still good to hear. Even the chance that that one's true is worth it." Horzat slowly nodded. "No survivors?"

"That's the thing. They didn't waste the ship. Shot out its jets, but not the engines, so it didn't go nova," Gelltor continued. "Then they sent in boarding parties. Whatever was on that ship, the Feds have it now."

"That's probably not a good sign," Hrug rumbled. "I've got more bad news. Prices on ship parts are going through the roof. Particularly armaments, and big ones. That means there's a lot of demand all of a sudden, and nobody I know has any idea where it's coming from."

"In other words, off the record. The Feds." Horzat kicked at a table leg. "And the Space Pirates are crippled, so it's not to fight them. Looks like I didn't get out of there a moment too soon."

"It's all still circumstantial." Samus frowned. "We still don't have enough to make us do something drastic."

"You're talking my language, sister." Gelltor rolled his eyes theatrically. "I'm not the hero type. I bruise easily."

"I don't think I'd have much luck persuading the Kingdok to secede from the Federation on this information," The Firkgon said drily. "On that note, however, he's been complaining recently about them. They've been hounding him about my Clan's involvement with the Pirates. He won't actually turn us over, of course, but they use it to put pressure on him all the same."

"Shitheads." Samus thought for a moment. "That will make him more willing to take us at face value if we actually give him something, right?"

"Yes," The Firkgon agreed. "I assume you and mister Horzat have a few suspicions along those lines?"

"You could say that." Horzat shook his head. "Everybody knows about SR-388 and Samus' latest job there. What we didn't know before was that the Feds are up to something. There's another kind of critter there just as bad as the Metroids. Maybe even worse."

"You're shitting us." Hrug groaned. "What is _wrong_ with that planet?"

"Hell if I know," Samus said with a sigh. "My new look's thanks to that, since you were all wondering. Yeah, you were thinking it. No point in getting into details-the crab can tell you the whole story later if you're that curious-but right now, it looks like the nasties have gotten loose on the BSL station. I'm going in to check it out."

"And try and figure out what the Feds are up to at the same time, right?" Welhaam poked her in the ribs. "I know the way you think, girl."

"That better not extend to my account numbers." Samus snorted, then frowned. "Might need a favor from you. The AI on my new ship is a Fed spy, and I need to get to that station now, so I can't get rid of it. Think you could rig something up to record any calls it makes to them?"

"Ugh. I'll need to sober up first." Welhaam rolled her eye theatrically. "If you can stay dirtside until... noon tomorrow, I should be able to give you something."

"Should be managable." Samus nodded. "I'll just tell the compy that I passed out in an alley."

"They're going that far, then?" The Firkgon said grimly. "From what you've told me, they've never tried to curtail your freedom like that before."

"Yeah. And that's not the only thing tipping me off that something big is going down this time." Samus narrowed her eyes. "Todar didn't just tell me what to do this time. He brought in others too. Two of 'em were just backup, but there was one guy there named Renpou. He didn't give me his rank, but the others were all scared shitless of him. They even tried taking the fall for screwing with me, but I could tell it was all him. Well, mostly him. Creepy son of a bitch, too. All of you, see if there's anything you can dig up on him while I'm at BSL."

"Orders received, o fearless leader." Gelltor saluted mockingly. "Obligatory sarcasm aside, that does sound like trouble. We'll look into it." The others all made noises of agreement.

"Cool." Samus stood up. "Hrug and Gelltor, no need to come over here yet, but have escape plans in mind in case everything goes nova. Firkgon, I'm afraid we'll need you on Evir, but if everything goes to hell there I'll come bail you out myself. Welhaam, Horzat, keep making buddies and spreading the word quietly here. I'll be back in a week or so with luck. We'll figure out what we do from here then." She smiled. "Until then, I'm going to go have some beer."

"It may not save the universe, but it saves our sanity," Horzat agreed as the comms clicked off and the three of them left the room. Falling back behind Welhaam with Samus, he dropped his voice. "Not bad. Still getting to you, huh?"

"What, the whole team player thing? Is water wet?" Samus muttered back. "This isn't how I operate, crab. I go in solo. Always have. I know this is necessary, but it still gets under my skin. Old habits are hard to break, you know?"

"Boy, do I ever. You know how long it took me to stop flinching every time I saw a Fed?" Horzat rolled his eye. "I know what you mean, though. They're all great guys, but I don't do the 'friend' thing any more than you do. Good news is, those four all get it. You're not gonna offend anybody by keeping them at arm's length. Just work with 'em, do what has to be done, and go back to your cold lonely bunk every night."

"Keep talking like that and I'm flying off the edge of known space, and the rest of you can deal with the Feds by yourselves," Samus growled mockingly. "Yeah, all right. Let's just get back to the front of the bar so I can get some beer. The way this job's shaping up, I'm going to need it."


	4. Chapter 3: Gateway Shuffle

_**Chapter 3: Gateway Shuffle**_

"Hey, you. Desk jockey." A young blonde woman in a thick-armored, orange and yellow power suit hailed the secretary behind a desk as she walked into the Federation office suite. "There some guy named Malkovich around here?"

"Excuse me?" The secretary raised her eyebrows, clearly offended. "Do you have an appointment with _Commander_ Malkovich?"

"Maybe. He just told me to come over here." The intruder shrugged. "Name's Samus Aran. Bounty hunter."

"I see." The secretary's face looked, if possible, even more disdainful at this announcement. "A bounty hunter. I don't think you have _quite_ the correct location. Commander Malkovich's time is far too busy to spend with riffraff."

"See, normally I'd just shrug and say see ya," Samus explained conversationally. "You can keep your nose up in the air until something bites it off for all I care. I'm used to it. But Malkovich said there's enough money involved in whatever he wanted to talk to me about to get me coming down here in the first place. So I figure we can go about this two ways. Either you call up your boss and get him to confirm that he wants me here, or I give you a free nap and go looking for him."

"That won't be necessary." The secretary's hand pressed the button that would signal security, then frowned as the indicator light refused to glow. "What-"

"I'm sorry, Sarl. I forgot to tell you." The man who opened the door to his office was a mildly handsome, athletic human in his early thirties with shoulder-length dark hair. His eyes were dark-rimmed and his shoulders slumped, but he still managed to look genuinely pleased to see Samus. "Hi, Adam Malkovich. Come on in, Miss Aran. We have business to discuss, and precious little time to do so in."

"Exactly what I was thinking." Samus nodded, waving cheerfully at the startled secretary as she entered Malkovich's office. To her surprise, he didn't waste time with a handshake and pleasantries, simply closing the door behind him and taking a seat behind the messy, paperwork-covered desk. "Friendly lady you've got working for you."

"My sister." Malkovich rolled his eyes. "Nice girl, but about as sharp as a bowling ball. I don't really want an assistant, but my superiors say I need one for appearances, so I just went with the path of least resistance. I do all my own work."

"Good. Nice to see some Feds know the right way to go about things." Samus nodded in approval, sitting down as well.

"And it's nice to see that some bounty hunters don't _totally_ stereotype us poor government employees." Malkovich smiled back, but only for a moment. "Well then. You know why I've asked you here, of course."

"The Space Pirates." Samus leaned back in her chair, folding her hands behind her head. "They've got their hands on something nasty. Nasty enough to make the whole Federation shake on its legs. You've kept most of the information out of the public eye, but everybody knows _something's_ wrong. Especially when you launched a _diplomatic negotiations_ team to Zebes." She didn't bother keeping the amusement out of her voice with that last sentence.

"Idiots." Malkovich shook his head in disgust. "The greatest threat to the Federation, and those clowns think we can _negotiate_ with them. I'll play straight with you, Samus. The Space Pirates have captured an animal called a 'Metroid' from planet SR-388 on the Far Side. Our reports suggest that no conventional means of destroying them will work. Even a battlecruiser's weapons won't scratch them. Their fangs can penetrate even a power suit, and through an unknown method, they can drain some sort of 'life force' from any living creature."

"Life force, huh." Samus narrowed her eyes. "You're lucky you called me in here. Most people in my line of work would just laugh in your face and say to skip the fairy-tale bullshit. But I'm strange like that. Blame it on my upbringing. Which leads me to my first question. Why me, of all people?"

"I can't go through official channels for this mission," Malkovich explained. "My superiors are still believing we can negotiate with the Pirates. We're on a time limit-the Pirates have already figured out that gamma radiation causes Metroids to divide asexually. If we want to wipe those things out, it's got to be done now. That means bounty hunters are the only way, and there's no way most of them would agree to this. From the reports I've heard about you, though, you hate the Space Pirates. It's not just business for you, with them. Something personal. I won't ask what. And despite your youth, you're already at the top of the field. The best is what I need here, period. I suppose that should be enough seemingly transparent flattery, but it really is the truth."

"Fair enough" Caught off guard by the deadpan joke, Samus couldn't help but chuckle. "All right, Malkovich. If we're still on for the amount you promised earlier, I'm in. You've got yourself a deal. What are the exact terms of what I'm supposed to do here?"

"In addition to exterminating the Metroids, there are three targets." Malkovich indicated a wall monitor, showing bounty files with mugshots. "Removing the immediate threat isn't the only thing I'd like you to take care of. I've had about enough of the Space Pirates, personally. Two of their four Pirate Lords are currently on-planet. Kraid is their chief genius; he's the one spearheading the Metroid research. Killing him is an obvious necessity. Then there's Ridley, their finest warrior. He's not directly involved with the Metroids, but as long as you're there, I'd like to have you take him out as well. He's killed far too many of our troopers for my liking, and payback is long overdue."

"I'll be getting the bounties on them both in addition to the mission pay, right?" Samus raised an eyebrow, her only reaction to the orders.

"Of course. And the same goes for their leader. Mother Brain, the Pirate Queen. Kill her, and the Pirates will crumble." Malkovich steepled his hands on his desk. "Any objections, lady?"

"Excuse me?" Samus whipped her head around from staring at the screen to glare at him. "What did you just call me? That supposed to be funny?"

"Did it sound like I meant it that way?" Malkovich shrugged, expression challenging.

"Well." Samus considered that for a moment. "No. No, you sounded like you meant it. Which just leads me to think you've got some issues."

"A bounty hunter believes that a career Federation Officer may not be the picture of mental normalcy," Malkovich replied, deadpan again. "My, my. I am shocked and apalled."

"Yeah, all right, I get it." Samus grinned suddenly. "You're not bad for a Fed, Mister Malkovich. I assume you'll want to be in contact with me while I'm on-planet?"

"Adam, please. And while that's a yes, I'll be leaving how often we actually talk up to your discretion." Malkovich nodded. "You're the professional here, so I won't be interfering. There'll be a local intelligence man on call as well. Ring either of us up when you want, and don't worry about us getting in your hair."

"You have no idea how much I appreciate that." Samus blinked. "Wait. Local intelligence? On _Zebes?_ How'd you manage that one?"

"A fortuitous circumstance. I suppose I should introduce you." Adam dialed up a comm connection on the wall monitor. After a moment of static, a Zebesian in a comfortable, but still identifiable, holding cell appeared. Grey-shelled, he was obviously maimed, with only one eye, claw and lower leg; the appendages had been removed at wrist and knee. "Mister Horzat, this is Samus Aran. She'll be the one going in for the job."

"You're shitting me." Samus glared at the monitor. "You're taking intel from a _Pirate._ This had better be good."

"Former Pirate, actually," The Zebesian's rusty-sounding voice responded from the speaker. "I got off-planet and made a run for the Feds. They're keeping me here until you frag my former employers. If everything I tell you is accurate, I get pardoned and paid when you're done. If not, I get a prompt ticket to Dante's Discount Crematorium. Simple as that, so if it's cool with you, let's screw the species prejudices and just do our jobs, huh?"

"That a fact." Samus continued glaring. "Maybe. Tell me why you quit, and I'll consider it."

"Why I quit? Simple." Horzat's eye blazed. "That fat bastard Kraid killed my wife. Slowly. Doing all this to _me_ was more an afterthought than anything else. I hear part of your paycheck comes from putting him down, hard. If you can rig a recording device to your helmet when you do, I'll give you whatever his bounty is again for a copy."

"That won't be necessary." Samus smiled coldly. "I'll hear you out. Give me straight intel, and I'll save that recording for you as a thank-you, no charge." She turned back to Malkovich. "I assume you'll want me to head out immediately."

"As soon as possible." Malkovich confirmed. "We need this done, and we need it done now. Unless, of course, you'd prefer ten times as many Metroids to kill. Somehow, though, I doubt you would."

"You're a funny man, Adam," Samus said in the same tone as his "lady" from earlier, rising. "I'll get back to my ship, then. Talk to you again when I'm en route to Zebes."

"Very well then." Adam smiled again. "Good luck, lady."

"Luck comes to those who make it." Samus smiled back. "And if I'm any judge, you're almost as good at that as I am. Let's see if I'm right."

* * *

"Samus." Adam's voice rang through the stateroom. "We'll soon be arriving at the BSL research station." It paused for a moment before continuing. "Unless you are prepared to take the controls within five minutes, I must prepare for the docking myself. The third option would be, of course, for us to crash into the station and die horribly. However, I advise against such."

"Was that supposed to be a joke?" Samus grumbled, throwing the blankets off and rising. "How about that. Keep it up and maybe in a couple more years you'll actually have a personality. I'm coming, you misprogrammed sack of screws."

"Your professionalism, as always, is appreciated," Adam replied snidely.

"Wiseass," Samus muttered to herself as she walked to the cockpit and took the controls. "Fun fact for the day. The guy you were named after had a sense of humor just like that. He was better at it, though." Before her, SR-388 filled half the window in the darkness of space. Brown and green streaked the globe; it was not a pretty planet, from orbit. The station between them was even less attractive; a vertically elongated chunk of rock strewn with lighted windows, the only other thing marking it as man-made was the ring of metal attached to it a quarter from the top.

"Absolutely fascinating, Samus," Adam said, still as blank-voiced as ever. "You are familiar with the docking procedures necessary, of course?"

"If there's no humans there, station's computer will be handling it." Samus nodded. "Chances are it won't be anything nearly as advanced as your tinfoil ass, though, if it couldn't give the Feds any information. Probably just stimulus-response with basic functions. Let's find out. Attention, BSL station. This is Hunter-Class Gunship _Matrix_, Samus Aran speaking. Request permission to dock."

"Granted," A mechanical voice responded on the comm, this one sounding generically female. "Opening docking bay."

"There we go." Samus deftly piloted her ship into the opening now visible at the top of the station before the docking bays had even finished slipping apart. Station gravity set in as soon as she was inside, perpendicular to the way it had looked from orbit. Switching the nullgravs off as the landing legs extended, she sighed and killed ship gravity; its drain on the engines wouldn't be necessary until she left again. "All right. We're in, and I'm on the clock. Let's hear what you have to say from the Feds, then. Get it over with."

"Very well," Adam said without complaint. "There's been an explosion from the quarantine bay, on the station's main deck. The bay is currently storing the samples from the visit to SR-388 in which you were infected by the X. In addition, the portions of your power suit infected by the X were being kept there. The cause of the explosion is still unclear, and is the first thing that should be investigated." A map of the station's man deck popped up on a screen to her right, with a "Target" label indicating a point near the middle. "The explosion occurred at this point."

"So you at least have a location for me. Guess you are good for something," Samus admitted grudgingly. "All right. Anything else?"

"Nothing has been dictated by the Federation. However..." Adam paused for a moment before continuing. "I advise you move quickly and quietly, Samus. The parts removed from your Suit included all optional upgrades. You are limited to your basic power beam, and your armor is actually at half of what was previously considered minimum. Of course, with reduced bulk your dexterity will be increased, but all upgrades to such have been removed as well. Be even more careful than when previously at zero. There is a Navigation room on the way to the Quarantine Bay; should you choose to communicate with me from there, I may be able to provide additional information."

"Not telling me anything I don't know already, but thanks." Samus shrugged, then blinked, processing his last sentence. "Wait, additional-well, whatever. Okay." Rising, she walked back to the common room. "If anything else but me approaches the ship, stay quiet. You've got authorization to use ship's weapons to defend it if necessary, but use your own judgment. Don't attract attention unless they start messing with it by themselves."

"Acknowledged. Good luck, Samus." Adam shrugged as the gravity beam dropped her into the docking bay.

"Luck comes to those who make it," Samus replied absently as she ran across the docking bay; like all of its kind on stations, it was bleak and utilitarian with no decoration. Her footsteps on the metal floor were quieter than they would have been with her full suit; something to be grateful for, at least. The fact that it was the only sound present was slightly chilling, though. Most bays were full of busy workers, and the emptiness of this one only served to underscore the fact that, most likely, she was the only intelligent lifeform here now.

_Don't let it get to you, girl._ Samus reminded herself as she passed a closed portal; with the station's current state, all hatches except emergency minimum would be locked. _So you can feel fear again. Doesn't mean you have to let this crap get to you. Better this than having an entire planet's population out for your head._ The second hatch she found was open, and it led onto the main deck. This, at least, had windows showing the stars outside slowly turning, though it was still stark metal, quiet and lifeless. All the same, the distinction helped a little, until Samus found the Navigation Room the computer had mentioned.

"Well, here it is." Small, the room contained nothing but a single terminal. Samus stared up at those for a moment, thinking over her choices. "Hell with it. I'm not gonna condemn somebody without even giving them a chance, even if it's a Fed spybot." Standing in front of the terminal, she connected to her ship. "All right, computer. I'm here."

"Samus." Adam's voice came in loud and clear. "Have there been any encounters so far?"

"Nah, place is like a tomb," Samus replied easily. "I'd say it was kind of creepy, but I've seen worse. You said something about additional information?"

"Indeed." Adam brought the station's map up again. "Federation directives were simply to provide the bare minimum of information and allow you to deal with matters as you saw fit. They seemed to believe you would respond to anything else with massive violence, or threats of such."

"And the way they tend to do things, I usually do," Samus agreed wryly. "When you ask nicely, though, I'm a little more open-minded. You got something else for me?"

"Upon docking, I took the liberty of scanning the deck for signs of life," Adam explained. "Bio-signs have been detected in the docking bay. There is something alive in there, Samus. I'm currently scanning the rest of the station, but that will take much more time."

"Right. But there is something waiting for me there." Samus narrowed her eyes. "Any idea what?"

"The scans were inconclusive." Adam sounded apologetic. "Logic and sense, however, may provide a greater idea."

"Let's see here. What did we take back from SR-388 that time?" Samus thought for a moment. "Mostly Hornoads. Some other small shit. And an Arachnus." She pressed a hand to her head. "God, I hope that one's not loose." An Arachnus was, quite simply put, a pain in the ass. One of SR-388's most savage predators, the bipedal beasts were the size of a horse with an armored shell they could roll up into like a ball. Under it, their leathery skin was still durable, and bristled with horns, claws and fangs everywhere. The firebreath was more in the nature of overkill than anything else.

"A troublesome lifeform?" Adam inquired.

"Yeah. Last time I fought one, I had a lot better gear." Samus remembered her first trip to SR-388 and winced. "I could _probably_ take it, but it'd be a pain in the ass. Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

"Agreed. Also, the station's computer reports that power is down in the sections of the deck between here and the Bay," Adam continued. "It is likely connected to the explosion."

"Great." Samus shook her head. "Better and better. All right, I'm going in." She started to leave, then paused. "Thanks for the info."

"It seemed an appropriate course of measure." Adam said mechanically. "Good luck, Samus."

Sighing, the bounty hunter left the Navigation Room and flicked on her suit's headlamp. The deck was totally dark, but life support at least still seemed functional. Continuing towards the Bay, Samus frowned; the reason for the lack of light was clearly visible. The surfaces all around were scarred and damaged, one side hall nearly collapsed entirely. The way to the Bay was still open, but something had come through there in a bad mood. Staring at a chunk of rubble, Samus shook her head.

"Damn. It's got to be the Arachnus. Nothing else could have done this much damage. Maybe it'll be somewhere else, though." Entering the Bay, she winced; it was even more torn up than the hall had been. Literally everything in sight was either partially or completely trashed. As she slowly walked forward, her ears finally picked up a sound other than her own boots. The scrabbling of claws, followed by an angry croak as a Hornoad jumped out from behind a ruined crate.

Dirt-common lifeforms on SR-388, Hornoads weren't any trouble when she had even the slightest armament, but they could still bite and spit acid when angered. More claws from another crate indicated the presence of a second, likely waiting for an ambush opportunity. "Oh no, you don't!" Samus fried the angry amphibian with a beam shot, then turned and did the same with its companion even as the second one jumped. As they died, the corpses shimmered and vanished, and then there were a pair of X floating in the air.

Yellow and gelatinous, the parasites were identical to the one that had infected her. After a moment of hanging motionless, they rushed her. "Not this time, boys..." Smiling grimly, Samus neatly grabbed the blobs out of the air, palm-fangs jabbing in easily. Without a noise, the X disappeared, and a warm feeling ran down Samus' arm through her body for a moment before fading. Looking around the Bay, Samus failed to see any other movement, and relaxed.

"Well." She said to herself after a moment. "Had to happen sometime. You knew they'd be here, girl. And you knew what you'd be doing to them." Still, she frowned, looking at the fangs for what seemed the millionth time. _Didn't expect it to feel like that, though. That was... nothing special. Felt natural. _After a beat, she chuckled. _Well, what did you expect? Something moving around in your belly? You've never done this before. Just be glad nothing that nasty happened._

Shaking her head, she examined the room further. There were computerized stasis capsules and less-sophisticated transport boxes both lining the floor; both were shredded, every one of them. Closer examination found dates on the shipment boxes, and to her dismay, the most recent one was in the worst condition of all.

"My suit pieces would have been in here." She cursed quietly under her breath; it was obvious nothing was left inside. No other lifeforms remained in the Bay either. After a few more examples of her vocabulary, she headed back to the Navigation Room. The journey back was just as quiet as the trip the other way had been. _Beats the alternative. Still a bit spooky, though._

"Samus. I expect from the disappearance of the bio-signs that you encountered and removed the X." Adam greeted her.

"Yeah, just a couple of Hornoads. No sweat." Samus brushed it off. "We've got bigger problems. Something went through there like an entire squad of Space Pirates on a quart of whiskey each. The place was trashed. Looks like the rest of 'em went down a hall and brought it down afterwards. I'm not getting through there without a Morph Ball."

"This is... unfortunate news," Adam replied after a moment. "It's confirmed, then. The specimens brought back by the field team were infected by the X parasites. Any one of the specimens could have hosted one, and somehow, it escaped to spread to the others in the Bay."

"Yeah." Samus shook her head. "Any idea how that happened?"

"I've questioned the station's computer further," Adam answered, then made an irritated noise. "Your assessment of its capabilities seems to have been overly optimistic. Eventually, though, I was able to learn that a security scanner managed to examine an X at the time of the explosion. Additional confirmation, I suppose. The Federation officials will no doubt be thrilled by as much supporting data as possible."

"You've noticed that, I see." Samus chuckled despite herself. "Getting the Feds to take something solely on face value is _almost_ as easy as getting sense out of that station's computer, I'd wager. While you're at it, go ahead and put it down as 'confirmed' that I can kill X without a replicant now. Let's hear it for Metroid cells."

"I see." Adam seemed to think for a moment. "Perhaps doing so may provide benefit to you. Did your Power Suit display any reaction to the absorption process?"

"Let me check." Samus brought up the display, then nodded. "Yeah. Says it registered an energy refill. Cool. I didn't need it then, but I probably will soon. Can't really count on them carrying energy pods like the Pirates did, so this'll come in handy."

"Indeed," Adam agreed. "Perhaps absorbing different strains of X will provide different benefits. I assume your suit parts were not present. This is only a conjecture, but if we are lucky, the X present in those parts may still contain data from your suit's optional upgrades."

"So if I manage to get one of those... I might get my upgrades back." Samus slowly grinned. "About time I had some good news. It's worth a shot, at least. Well, enough theorizing. The big question is, what do we do now? I've gotten as far as I can with all the hatches sealed."

"Yes. The station's artificial environment sectors contain many species, some of them violent. Under optimal conditions, we would use all available measures to ensure that the X are kept out of those environments, at all costs," Adam explained. "Unfortunately, it seems we must take a risk. I am detecting a large accumulation of bio-signs at another portion of the main deck. The X are gathering there. This may be our best chance at exterminating them."

"Right." Samus nodded, scanning the map for the point Adam was indicating. "If we can wipe them all out here and now, it'll save a lot of time and headaches. Gotta take the chance. So how do I get there?"

"The hatches on the ship are color-coded, in order of security level," Adam continued. "Levels 1-4 can only be released from top-secret security rooms. Level 0, however, is under the control of the station's computer. I've instructed it to open the grey hatches. It's all-or-nothing, so every Level 0 hatch in the station is now unlocked. But it's a risk we have to take."

"I always was a hard-gambling woman," Samus agreed with a chuckle. "Maybe we'll get along after all. I'll get going, then."

"Be careful, Samus." Adam warned her. "You're still at only 10 percent of your optimal capabilities. The Federation needs you alive and on duty."

"Oh, really," Samus glared up at the screen, suddenly angry at the machine again. "That a fact. Well, lucky for the Federation, I like living too. See you around, compy."

Turning away, she stalked back into the powered section of the deck and made her way through a hatch that had been closed before. As soon as she was through, another Hornoad jumped her, and she wiped it out, nabbing the X almost as an afterthought. The section of the deck on the other side provided three hallways, one of which led to her destination. Another, however, was blocked off by some disgusting-looking screen of green goo, spreading out like a spiderweb from a pod of purple spheres in the center.

"Okay, that looks nasty." Samus didn't bother touching it, but instead fired. The beam dissipated harmlessly. "And tough. Maybe if I had some Missiles?"

"Oooh..." A moan from the hall she had wanted echoed, and the hatch opened. From it stumbled a shambling nightmare. It had been human once; that much was evident from the general shape and the tatters of the labcoat. That was clearly in the past, though; this was obviously a corpse, halfway decayed and held together by a vile purple slime. Stumbling towards Samus, it moaned pitifully, then trailed off and died as a beam shot melted it down.

"What the _shit,_" Samus snarled as she snatched the X and looked down at the remains. The corpse parts were left in a heap, the slime having vanished. "Guess replicating intelligent life is tougher than animals? Maybe this was a practice try. Guess that's another 'confirmed' for that stupid computer. The staff got caught by the X, all right." Heading down the hall, she entered a second Navigation Room. This time, she just kept walking.

"Samus." Adam's voice came out from the terminal anyways. "I've made contact with Galactic Federation HQ."

"That a fact." Samus kept her voice level as she stopped. _So he doesn't need me to call him from these things. Good to know. Don't let down your guard just because you got along with this thing for a few minutes._ "Anything interesting to say?"

"They've agreed to provide support," Adam answered, seemingly unaware of her irritation. "There are Data Rooms on this station capable of receiving transmissions from HQ. If you can locate one, they will transfer data containing missile capabilities for your suit."

"Yeah, okay," Samus admitted after a moment. "That'd help out big time. Only so much a beam can do. Where do I get 'em?"

"The closest Data room is on the Operations Deck." Adam indicated it on the map. "It will require a deviation from your current course, but missiles will bring you up to twenty percent of your optimal capabilities."

Samus left without another word, still angry. The elevator shaft to the Operations Deck was only a door away. Taking it up, she leaned back against the wall as the platform rose. Up at the top of the station, there was finally something resembling décor; dozens of terminals covering all walls with massive glass panes stretching up a hundred feet. Metal catwalks led up to additional levels, with more of the same. Checking her map, Samus located the Data room Adam had indicated; it held some kind of device like a fancy vertical operating table. As soon as she had slipped into it, she felt some sort of energy flowing through it into her, and instantly, her visor brought up the familiar missile counter.

"Ten, huh. That's more than I usually get to start. And if this place is anything like every other facility in the galaxy, there'll be missile tanks tucked away all over the place." Samus muttered to herself absently as she walked back out. It took her several moments to realize that the elevator wasn't moving back down. "Shit." Scanning the map, she found that the Operations Deck had a Navigation room as well, and reluctantly entered it. "Hi. We've got a problem."

"I noticed. It seems electrical interference has knocked out the elevators on the Main Deck," Adam agreed dryly. "Perhaps a coincidence. Perhaps not. Regardless, if we wish for you to attempt to eliminate the X while they're gathered, you'll need to find another way back down, and quickly."

"I don't trust coincidences," Samus growled. "This had better have been worth it."

"Judging by the size of the bio-signs I'm reading, it will probably prove necessary," Adam assured her. "I'll try and see if the X caused this while you get down there."

"And I'll tear their asses in half. It's what I'm good at." Samus agreed. "See you once that's done."

An examination of the Operations Deck located a ventilation shaft that had been in the process of being repaired when the X had escaped. A few minutes prying at the cover hatch peeled it off, and Samus slowly walked in, turning on her headlamp once more. Almost immediately, she saw that another of the green screens of slime was in her way. "Okay, glad I didn't run into that."

A missile, as she had hoped, proved enough to blow it away, and when the pod in the center burst apart, a green X emerged. Nabbing it, Samus blinked; instead of energy, it had replaced the missile she had just fired. "Well, whatever works..." Several more slime zombies were climbing through the shaft, apparently looking for her. One by one, Samus meticulously wiped them out, and continued doing so after she climbed back out onto the Main Deck. Pulling up her map, she nodded.

"All the X are in that storage bay over there-" Glancing over, she froze, holding her breath. Over the portal was a growth of ugly red tissue, its only feature a massive, closed eyelid that split its entire surface in half. It was an Eye Guardian, artificial life forms created to act as security. Created by the Space Pirates of Zebes, and only by them.

"Where the hell did the X get one of these to copy?" Samus wondered, stepping up to the beast. The eye opened, and it began emitting waves of energy, but she was familiar with the beasts and easily dodged. Three missiles into the orb killed it, leaving a bloody red X behind; this one refilled her power and missiles both. "There's more going on here than I thought."

Thoughts racing, Samus stepped into the cargo bay, and looked around. Like the Quarantine Bay, it was trashed, but there was no sign of any life remaining there. Footsteps echoing in the unnatural quiet, Samus whipped her head around, looking for X. There was nothing. "Empty? What the hell! Some sort of trap..." Her eyes widened, and as the Arachnus leaped out, Samus jumped away just in time. Without a moment of pause, Samus instantly blasted it in the chest with a missile, and it raised its head in a roar of anger before curling up and rushing her.

"Whoa!" Samus hurdled the Arachnus easily, then blinked. "Compy was right-I'm a lot more agile than I used to be." Landing, she whirled around and blasted it again as soon as it uncurled. This time, the creature replied with its flammable halitosis, which spread across the floor like napalm. Wincing, Samus kept blasting at its scorched skin with her beam, stepping away from the flames and waiting for the rush. When it came, she jumped to an untouched corner of the room, then launched another missile. Still, the beast advanced, spewing more fire to cut off her escape route. Stalking through the flames without any signs of feeling the heat, it loomed over her.

"Why the hell do half the things trying to kill me have some sort of bad breath weapon?" Samus asked the universe at large as the Arachnus's claws raked her suit. Wincing, she reared up and clocked it right between the eyes with her cannon, grunting in satisfaction at the stunned look in its eyes. "Fire, acid, webbing, beams. It always smells bad." Lowering her aim to the wound in its chest, she pumped missiles straight into it point-blank, until the Arachnus finally squealed and died. "All right, you stupid-huh?"

The X that emerged was different. For one thing, it was almost as large as she was, and for another, the blob was encased in a spherical, transparent shell with tiny spikes covering the surface. Hovering only for a second, it blasted down towards Samus, and she instinctively dived under it. Straight into the fire. Hissing in pain, she whirled and fired the last of her missiles, and the shell broke apart, leaving a yellow X the size of a man hovering in confusion.

Throwing herself back into the non-flaming corner, Samus rolled around for only a couple moments to douse the flames before jumping up and plunging her palm-fangs into the giant X. "You're _mine_, you big shit." As the X drained, Samus realized in a dim, sort of passive way that it was taking several moments, not instantly vanishing like its smaller counterparts.

This was only in the back of her thoughts, however. In the moment that she had grabbed it, the flow of warmth that accompanied the action had overridden her thought processes. Something in her body was reacting to the absorption of the X, and when the moment passed and she realized she was standing alone in the burning storage room, Samus found herself shaken anew by the intensity of what had happened.

"The hell was _that_ supposed to be?" She muttered ineloquently. "Felt good, I guess. But still. What the _fuck_. This is why species change operations suck." Shaking her head in resignation, she brought up her suit's status, then blinked. "Morph Ball? When did I get... oh. _Oh._ That was what the compy was talking about when he said I could get my upgrades back." Looking around at the burning room for a moment, she shrugged. "Well, hell. Not like it was _bad._ Weird shit happens. You're used to it, girl." Turning around, she walked back out of the storage room.

_All of a sudden, though, I'm glad the X don't have intelligent life down well._ She thought grimly. _And I hope I can get rid of 'em all before they do._

* * *

"All right, computer," Samus announced as she walked into the Navigation Room. "We were suckered. The only X still there was a heavy hitter. The rest of 'em had already flown the coop."

"So I had surmised. As some humans put it, it seems we bet big and lost bigger," Adam reported, managing to sound dismayed despite his level tone. "The environmental sectors have been invaded by the X. As soon as we opened the hatches, they must have immediately rushed in that direction."

"Not immediately." Samus narrowed her eyes. "We've been underestimating them. They gathered in that spot intentionally to lure me there, as soon as they knew I was here. They must have some sort of hive mind. Even the ones I killed could communicate with the others instantly with their thoughts. The Arachnus was left behind to wipe me out once I fell for the trap." She slammed a fist into a wall. "I saw what's left of some scientists, but they didn't _look_ human any more, so I thought they wouldn't be able to think intelligently. Careless of me. Looks like a zombie, talks like a zombie, doesn't mean it's a zombie."

"The damage is done," Adam reminded her. "Now, we must attempt to cope. As of yet, I'm only reading abnormalities in the bio-signs from one sector. The SRX sector, which replicates the X's home environment of SR-388. If you move fast, you may still be able to exterminate them before they spread further."

"Worth a shot," Samus grunted. "Guess we should be glad they stuck to what feels like home first. All right, I'm on my way."

"The main elevator will lead you to the ecosytem elevators. SRX is Sector 1, the first on the right," Adam explained. "You are right, however; for a plan this complex, at least one intelligent lifeform must be part of the X collective. I only hope the, ah, 'zombies' are the answer. If it's linked to the earlier explosion, instead..."

"Then this is a lot messier than I want to think about right now," Samus finished as she left the room. "I'm not much for optimism, but just this once I'll give it a go."

The collapsed hallway she had seen earlier was where she needed to go. Now, however, she had the Morph Ball. Chozo technology, it somehow allowed her suit to curl into a one-foot sphere without damaging her body. At the moment, her special power suit was the only one in the Galaxy capable of using the device. The Federation and the Space Pirates had both attempted to replicate it several times, all of them failing messily. Rolling up, Samus slipped under the rubble, and uncurled on the other side to take the elevator down.

"Right then. Time to hunt some-" As soon as she was below floor level, something above exploded violently, shaking the shaft and dropping dust down on her.

"Dammit!" Samus stared up. _If something big jumps down here after me, I've had it._ Several frenzied moments that seemed like an eternity later, she realized there was no further sound aside from the frenzied pace of her heartbeat. Nothing was coming down the shaft after her. Still, she didn't move until the elevator reached the bottom, and she forced her feet to move once more. _Looks like I just __missed the tornado. What _was_ that? Sounded like a missile-no, too big. A _Super_ missile. These pencil-necks had _those_ around here_? Remembering the eye guardian, Samus frowned; she hadn't asked Adam about that. _I'm going to get some answers out of that machine, but not now. Still gotta try and nip this in the bud while I can._

There were six elevators, three on each side of the main, each leading to a different artificial environment containing lifeforms for scientific study. As Adam had said, Sector 1 was the first on the right, and Samus took the lift down, taking the time to calm herself further. When she stepped into the Navigation Room at the entrance to the Sector, her voice and pace were steady again.

"I think you'd better try harder to make sense out of this station's computer. We've got a serious problem. Something back up on the main deck is firing off Supers."

"That would explain why the main elevator leading up to the deck has been so severely damaged," Adam replied after a moment. "I was wondering about that. Fortunately, one of the few things the station's computer can do correctly is perform repairs to those. It's down for the moment, but it'll come back up in time."

"In the meantime, whatever did that can't get down here either, then," Samus realized. "There are pros and cons to that, but at least it means I can get to work in here without being distracted."

"Indeed. This is worrisome, though," Adam said quietly. "This unknown agent... could one of those 'zombies' have used Super Missiles?"

"No way. So there's at least one fully functional human replicant running around up there, with a power suit." Samus winced. "Maybe more than one. That's going to make the Arachnus look like a warmup." She shook her head. "We can deal with that later. Right now, it's the infestation in this sector that needs dealing with, right?"

"Yes. I'll look into the lifeform up here while you work," Adam agreed. "For now, your targets should be the atmospheric stabilizers. These are devices used to regulate the environment in this sector. The X have taken the form of some gelatinous creature that interferes with the stabilizer's proper functions, disrupting the artificial atmosphere into a state more suitable for their rapid breeding."

"You realize I'll have to wreck the damn things to shut them off, most likely," Samus said. "I'm not a mechanic. Fooling with them to try and repair them wouldn't do shit, and it'd leave me open."

"The atmospheric stabilizers are not an absolute necessity," Adam replied. "It is preferable to have them not functioning than to the state the X are maintaining. Destroy all five of them, then check back in, and we'll see how things look at that point."

"And whether we'll be collecting a paycheck after all," Samus added, running out.

A few maintenance rooms held zombies and slime barriers, neither of which deterred her more than a couple moments, and then she was in the artificial environment. Immediately, she coughed on impulse, even though her helmet was up. The familiar-looking cavern was filled with a thick haze, and something was making a rusty, squeaking sound. Tracing it led her to the device, a metal box with an opening that was currently filled with green and purple gunk. There were unformed X blobs floating around in both yellow and green flavors. Five missiles, and the machine collapsed in a mass of smoke and fire. Instantly, the haze cleared.

"I feel like I should get some sort of environmental benefit award for this," Samus muttered, snatching all the X and refilling her missiles. "Then again, this whole screwed-up situation is kind of because I messed up the actual ecosystem, so maybe not."

Despite the grimness of her task, Samus couldn't help herself from relaxing as she continued through the SRX sector. The scientists had done their job well; aside from the metal pipes and machines, and an occasional maintenance room, it was totally identical to SR-388's caverns. Samus had always liked them, and so she went about her task feeling more light-hearted than she had before. Not even nearly running into a boiling lava pit after fragging a second stabilizer put a damper on her spirits.

"I was wondering if they'd have those around," She murmured, turning back to a maintenance room. "It wouldn't really be SR-388 without them, after all." She began descending the room's vertical shaft, then paused, hearing a clatter on the catwalk below her. Logically, it would only be another X-infested animal, but every instinct in her body told her something different. Her instincts were right; she threw herself to the side just in time to escape an energy beam, and as she dropped down the catwalk, she saw what had fired it.

"Sssss!" The bipedal crustacean snarled wordlessly, its appearance warped from the norm for its species. The colors were bizarre, a fluorescent mix of purple and green, with decorative feathery growths. Despite the alterations, its species was obvious to Samus.

"Space Pirates!" Samus snarled the identifier like an epithet, rolling back from the Zebesian's second shot and returning fire with her own beam. Screaming, the Pirate died, and X flew out. Without a word, Samus grabbed them, then tensed herself. Still, there was no change in the feeling of absorption, as she had feared would be the case with sentients. Frowning, she thought for a moment. "That one didn't look right... maybe they're still figuring out how to make Zebesians, like with the zombies?" She paused for a moment, then dodged as more beam fire came up from the depths of the shaft. Cursing, she abandoned the thought process and scrambled down, focusing for the moment on the killing time.

The firefight was but the work of a moment. More lingering were the questions involved, which kept running through Samus' head as she continued to seek and destroy the atmospheric stabilizers. _Space Pirates. There were Space Pirates on this station, for the X to infect and replicate. Not just the eye guardians, but actual pirates themselves. Were they living or dead? If they were alive, what were they doing here? Were they responsible for the explosion after all, or did some Federation scumbag sell out to them? If they were dead, why wasn't I told this place was keeping Zebesian corpses around? I've made my fucking career out of slaughtering the bastards, there's no reason I'd have a problem with them doing so... unless there's something else here..._

The questions remained with her, but no answers came, as she wiped out two more stabilizers and survived a second wave of faux Zebesians. Hunting down the fifth and final target took her through a half-submerged cavern, and after crawling through a narrow tunnel in ball form, she found herself facing a second Eye Guardian. Killing it and snagging the red X, Samus paused for a moment to steady herself, then went through the portal.

_The Arachnus might have been a fluke, but I doubt it,_ She thought, scanning the room on the other side. _If they've got Space Pirates, they'll know how those eyes were used only by the Pirate Lords. Chances are there's something big and nasty here._

The room was large and held a great deal of complicated machinery, all centered around a stasis tube in the back of the room. Inside was something that made Samus catch her breath for a moment. A Chozo statue. Left by the extinct race of birdlike sentients on various planets, they held examples of their lost technology as gifts for those who found them. Samus had seen more than anyone else. _No way is this here. How... some sort of visual illusion?_ Scanning the room, she quickly found what she recognized as a holographic display, and nodded. _Bingo._ A missile blew out the control panel, and the Chozo statue shimmered and vanished.

What remained was an X, of the massive size that had been inside the Arachnus, but this one's transparent shell held an additional feature-a single, glowing eye. Glaring for a moment, the creature fired a beam, and Samus barely managed to dive out of the way. Bringing up her arm, she shot a missile back, and the X's shell was cracked, but only around the socket. Rising back to her feet, Samus scrambled up onto the catwalk rising around the room and watched the X chase her slowly, firing again. _This one's slower than the last... but that shell looks at least twice as thick. Aim for the eye, then._ Again and again, she blasted the obvious weak point, and eventually, it shattered, revealing the bright pink blob within. Grabbing it, Samus tensed herself as the intense rush of energy filled her body a second time. When it died down, she accessed her systems, and smiled. She had regained her Charge Beam function.

_Piece by piece, I'm putting myself back together._ Samus climbed back onto the catwalk, and left the room. _This might turn out to be fun, after all._

* * *

"All right, compy. Hit me with the bad news," Samus said flatly as she walked back into the Navigation Room. "I got all the stabilizers. We're still in business, though, aren't we?"

"I am afraid so. The X spread faster than we could imagine," Adam admitted. "The sentient replicant has apparently allowed its kin into Sector 2, TRO. That sector was designed to imitate a jungle environment."

"Crap and double crap." Samus shook her head. "Just that one, though, right? None of the others yet?"

"Affirmative," Adam agreed. "Why do you ask?"

"A thought." Samus tapped her fingers on the terminal. "The X seem to have trouble mimicking intelligent life. First those zombies... then-well, never mind that for the moment. We can talk about that later. My point is that we only know of one sentient running around. If I can find it, and wipe it out, maybe that'll stop the spread, or at least slow it enough to be controlled."

"A dangerous proposition, Samus," Adam said after a moment. "But it seems the only feasible way remaining to accomplish your mission. Very well. The sentient is likely still in the TRO sector. Also, the main elevator is back online, and I believe I've almost convinced the station's computer to share security footage of the original damage to it."

"Keep working on that. I'll head over." Samus nodded. Taking the elevator back up, she quickly located the lift to Sector 2, and went down. As she ran through the Navigation Room, she turned her head towards the terminal. "Any luck?" As she opened the hatch, she paused. Adam hadn't responded. "Hello? Computer?"

"Samus." Adam finally broke the silence. "Our situation is dire. I've learned the identity of the sentient."

"That a fact?" Samus raised an eyebrow as the monitor opened a window showing the footage. "Well, what's the big-"

She choked off the rest of the sentence, her face going pale. Samus hadn't reacted like that since Ridley's idiot henchmen had set a similar space station to self-destruct in three minutes while they were all still aboard. That, at least, had been a humorous situation when viewed from an appropriate passage of time. There was nothing even remotely so here.

On the screen, walking slowly, its heavy metal boots echoing through the smoke-filled air, was her power suit. The whole thing, complete and functional, walking out of a wall blasted apart by a Super Missile. And inside it, visible as the camera zoomed in, was her own face, its eyes white and blank.


	5. Chapter 4: Wild Horses

_**Chapter 4: Wild Horses**_

"The X have replicated _you_, Samus." Adam said, unnecessarily. When Samus didn't respond, he continued. "I've named the lifeform the SA-X. I must assume that it came from your infected suit parts. The explosion in the Quarantine Bay is now explained; it used a Power Bomb to break free. Doing so opened up the capsules containing the other recent samples, and it proceeded to infect them as well before turning to the ship's crew. This being is undoubtedly the intelligence behind everything that has happened here so far, and the greatest threat."

"It was trying to cut me off," Samus muttered numbly, staring up at the terminal's screen, the only source of light in the Navigation Room. The frozen frame of the security recording stared back at her, the SA-X's eyes blank and soulless. "At the main elevator. If I'd been ten seconds slower it would have killed me then and there. Why didn't it follow me into Sector 1?"

"It damaged the elevator," Adam reminded her. "By the time I repaired that, it must have decided that spreading the X was a higher priority than searching for you. That time, it accidentally set itself back, and you managed to escape without even knowing what would have killed you."

"Not _fucking_ helping, talking like that, you piece of slag," Samus snarled, holding her head in her hand. "Dammit..." _They replicated _me._ Those little blobs of shit _replicated me. _And I'm alone on this station with them and fucking_ _IBM here._

"I am only stating the facts," Adam said blithely. "You cannot face the SA-X, Samus. It 's mimicking you at full power, with all of your upgrades. A fight between you and it would have no chance of victory whatsoever."

"I can't think about this right now. Not like this." Samus gave up and raised her head. "There are X in here, you said? Good. I'm going to kill some and get my thoughts together. I always think better when I'm doing that. We'll talk more after I've busted enough heads to get mine working again."

"Samus," Adam warned her as she moved towards the exit. "Just remember, the SA-X is here too. If you see it, run away. Don't even try to fight."

"That's if I even get the chance." Samus paused and chuckled grimly. "It's got the Ice Beam, after all. I'm part Metroid now, remember? They're weak to low temperatures. One shot of that and I'll probably be a popsicle."

"All the more reason to be wary. With this development, there is no actual reason to continue into this Sector. However..." Adam sighed deeply. "If you insist on doing so, you may still be productive. There will be a Data room here, and HQ has data on Bombs ready to send. You'll have to open up Level 1 hatches to access it, however. The good news is, they've also authorized that, and the room with the controls to those hatches is also in this sector. Try and locate those rooms while you're out, and keep an eye out for the SA-X."

"Whatever." Samus didn't look back as she left the room.

It wasn't that her mind was shut off, or that she was losing a grip on her sanity. It was nothing like that. The next few hours weren't a blur, or a black spot in her memory. She remembered them perfectly. It was just that she didn't _want_ to think, didn't _need_ to think about what was happening. Trudging through the TRO sector, through waist-eye grasses and bushes, and under further plant life draping from every wall and ceiling and catwalk, Samus simply chose to turn off her conscious mind, and surrender entirely to her instincts. There, surrounded by hostile animals, mostly insect in nature, her instinct was to kill. And so, she killed, and killed, and killed some more.

A Zero was a lifeform halfway between a caterpillar and a slug, with the former's skin and spines, and the latter's shape and speed. About the size of a human, they posed little actual threat with no actual means of attacking, but they absorbed a surprising amount of beam fire. Pumping energy into them until they died, and the X inside were vulnerable for the taking, Samus slowly felt the tension ease. As Adam had instructed, when she stumbled across the Security Room, more by accident than anything else, she went ahead and opened the next level of hatches before going back to the slaughter. And when she found herself in the Data Room in a similar fashion, she paused for a moment to download the data for Bombs from Federation HQ.

"Bombs," Samus muttered, speaking aloud for the first time since she had left Adam. "Bombs are good." Compared to missiles, they were relatively low-payload, but because of that, her suit could synthesize as many of them as she needed, on the spot in Morph Ball form. Bombs weren't much use in combat, but they would come in handy for breaking through weak points in walls or obstructions of rubble. After a moment, she nodded once and walked back out into the artificial jungle, and continued her hunt for anything that moved. When she found that a hatch she had previously entered through had been damaged beyond usability, she simply went another way without even wondering how or why it had happened.

Eventually, she moved further into even lusher jungles, and then into a cavern swarming with just as much life as the rest of the sector, in fungus and mold. Seeing another Eye Guardian ahead, Samus smiled and blew it away as she had the rest, and walked through the hatch without a care. On the other side, a fifteen-foot monster loomed over her. Bizarre even by the standards of all the lifeforms she had seen, it was more like an armored, pillar-shaped jellyfish than anything; most of the body was transparent shell. Resting on a single clawed foot, it glared down from a single blue eye, and feathery appendages atop it twitched.

Going for the easy target first, Samus tried firing at the eye, but her shot did nothing; the organ was actually encased inside the clear carapace. Snarling, she dived aside as the beast began jumping around. Watching it carefully, she quickly located its mouth in the center of the foot. It wasn't long before the orifice opened as it fell, attempting to pull her in. Instead, it got a missile straight up the canal and into its organ cluster, and Samus dived away, unscathed. Squealing, the creature continued pressing the attack, and she responded in kind.

Half a dozen missiles later, the monster died, and another giant X appeared, eyeless like the first. More missiles brought the shell down, and Samus took the glowing red blob inside. As before, the absorption process sent shivers down her spine, and when it was done, she crouched on the ground, breathing heavily, but thinking consciously once more. Checking her suit, she even smiled; this one had restored both her High-Jump Boots and the Jump Ball upgrade for her compacted form.

"All right. That's about enough of _that._ Time to get back to business." Walking back out into the jungle, Samus brought up the map of the TRO sector in her helmet, and frowned. Her current location was in rooms that hadn't been on the original map given to her by Adam. Not even close. The implications of that weren't favorable. "If they gave me an incomplete map, then there's things here they don't want me to see." She paused, looking at a Zero, then slowly nodded, watching as it began to spin a cocoon around itself. "Zeros. _Damn._"

A Zero itself wasn't much to look at, but like many insects, they metamorphosed into an adult form eventually. And when they did, they achieved sentience, becoming a species of flying, bipedal insects called KiHunters, who had joined forces with the Space Pirates of Zebes several Standard years ago. "It's not just the Zebesians, then... shouldn't be surprising," Samus muttered, trudging onward. "Something else is up on this station. What else did I find down here?" Preoccupied, she barely noticed as she walked across a section of flooring that gave out beneath her feet. "Oh, great." Without a thought, she rolled and softly landed in a ventilation shaft of the room below.

The sound of a hatch opening and heavy metal boots clanging against that room, however, was an entirely different story.

Samus fell silent and went pale once more in the same breath, dropping quietly onto her hands and starting down through a vent. Any doubt as to what was walking in vanished, as soon as she saw the orange and red power suit stepping calmly into the room. _That blown-up hatch, earlier. Fuck. _Looking around, the SA-X made a disgusted sound, but no actual words. It made a show of pawing through a few boxes-the room seemed to be for storage of supplies-then did an about face and went back the way it came. The hatch opened again, and the SA-X was gone, with no idea of who had been sharing the room with it.

Even after it had departed, though, Samus remained motionless for some time, staring down through the vent. _My blood's run cold... no, not just that. My whole body is numb._ _If it had known I was __here, I wouldn't have even tried to run. I'm frozen even before it shoots me. Why? This isn't just fear-I've felt that before. Recently, even. What is this? Why can't I move?_ She shivered involuntarily. _Nothing's done _this_ before, even when I was a rookie. Not the Metroids, not Ridley, not Mother Brain, nothing. Even when Metroid Prime duplicated me. This isn't the first time I've fought something that looked like a mirror. But that time wasn't like this. That time, I fought back, and won. Now..._

No matter how long she remained in the vent, no answers were forthcoming. Finally, eventually, she realized she could move again. Rising, she dropped into the room, and left without a word, looking at her map to find the best way back to the entrance of the Sector.

* * *

"Okay, computer," Samus said wearily, walking back into the Navigation Room. "Where's the fire this time, and how bad is it?"

"How very cynical of you, Samus," Adam replied calmly. "Unfortunately, in this case you are correct. We have trouble. I was distracted by the revelation of the SA-X, and did not clearly think out the downside of opening Level 1 hatches. That may have been more than a slight mistake."

"You're not the only one," Samus admitted. "My head wasn't on any too straight either. No helping it now, though. Let me guess. That opened up two more of the environmental sectors for X colonization."

"Correct again. With the hatches operative, the SA-X slipped into Sector 4 easily," Adam said. "That's the Sector for water-dwelling lifeforms, AQA. The creatures and systems there are already showing multiple irregularities."

"Sounds like we're pretty much fucked, at this point." Samus sighed, leaning against the back wall of the room. "Our job was to wipe out all the X on-board, and that's not going to happen. The little matter of the SA-X aside, they're just spreading too fast for us to control. I'd bet they've already reinfested Sector 1, even."

"A correct guess," Adam agreed. "Very well. In our defense, with the presence of the SA-X unknown to us, our mission was doomed from the beginning. That will likely aid my stance when making my report to Federation HQ. At least, in the sense of maintaining your reputation, as well as not beginning my own on an undesired note."

"Well, I can get behind not looking like an idiot, so more power to you there," Samus said with a snort. "Yeah, call 'em up and ask what they want us to do here. In the meantime, I'll head on over to Sector 4, just in case. Maybe they'll pull us out, but maybe not."

"A blunt, but apt, summary," Adam agreed dryly. "I will see you there, then."

Once she was safely out of the Navigation Room, Samus pulled out the receiver for the device Welhaam had attached to her ship from a pocket. The crafty Elocto hadn't been willing to even try plugging it into her Power Suit directly, but this would do. As Samus expected, the device came to life even before she had started up the elevator.

"Ah, Adam, dear boy!" Renpou's voice spoke first. "Good to finally hear from you. Tell me, how are things going at our little space station?"

"The X have spread to three of the environmental sectors so far, and a fourth is only a matter of time," Adam explained. "This is mostly due to an X replicant of Samus, created from the pieces of her power suit. I went ahead and named it the SA-X, and it's mimicking her at full power, so we don't stand a chance of destroying it." He paused for a moment, then continued. "Congratulations on guessing that one, by the way."

"It really wasn't that hard," Renpou said, sounding theatrically bashful. "The X in those pieces still had been infesting her, after all. Separate them, and they'd just continue working by themselves, the best they could."

Once more, Samus felt her palm-fangs digging into her fingers as she clenched her fist, but she said nothing.

"Unfortunately, the reason we told her for being here is no longer valid," Adam continued. "It's obvious at this point that we don't stand a chance of wiping out the X. We'll need a new reason for Samus to remain onboard. Otherwise, she might just conclude that there's nothing more for her here, and head off. With the SA-X roaming around, there's no chance of her getting the pieces of her Power Suit back."

"I see, I see." Renpou sounded like he was thinking deeply. "Well, we can't have that. I'll leave that up to you, Adam. I'm sure you'll think of something."

"Your confidence in my abilities is flattering," Adam said flatly, actually sounding irritated.

_The damn thing's talking like an actual sentient now,_ Samus realized. It_'s just been playing the tin can. How advanced is it really? _

"Oh, come now, don't be like that." Renpou chuckled. "You've been working closely with her. You have to have some idea as to how she thinks now, what would work. Go on, tell me. What do you think of her performance so far on this station?"

"For the most part, exemplary," Adam said after a moment. "She's adapted to the new situation a lot faster than I would have expected. Instead of refusing to cooperate with me, she's only met my suggestions with a few offhand insults, which are the norm even with allies. Despite the lack of her full abilities, she's been as efficient and successful as humanly possible. The only exception was her reaction to the existence of the SA-X. When she learned about _that_, she lapsed into a rather frightening killing spree. Granted, the victims were all X-infected animals, but I'm a little worried about the possibility of her turning that mental depth upon the Federation some day. Especially if she had been returned to a fully powered and upgraded suit."

"You sound impressed, Adam my boy," Renpou said. "It sounds like you admire her. Hell, I'd even say you _like_ her. Well, there's nothing wrong with that. She's a fascinating piece of work, after all. Just don't let it interfere with your job performance, hm?"

"There will be no danger of that, sir," Adam said, coldly again. "I still remember what Commander Todar explained to me about Samus Aran."

_The hell is _that_ all about?_ Samus wondered, mentally filing it under things to investigate further. _If Todar did it, it's probably not good. I wonder._

"A shame." Renpou sighed. "Truly regrettable. Well, I won't try to force you on the subject. Just keep her there, all right? And keep _me_ posted."

"Roger," Adam said, and the line went silent.

_So that's the way it is._ Samus put the device away. _Well, two can play at that game. Good thing I've got friends in high places; I'll have to buy Welhaam a drink or twenty next time I see her. _Opening the hatch on her left, she took the next elevator over down to Sector 4. _We agree on one thing, though. No way am I taking off. I'm getting to the bottom of this, even if I have to dodge that SA-X freak for a solid week. And whatever it takes, I'll find some way to kill that thing. If it's actually capable of thinking logically... if it ever got out from this station, and into the rest of the galaxy..._ She shook her head as she shivered again. _No. Do _not_ think about that. Focus on the task at hand._

"Ah, Samus. There you are." Adam greeted her as she entered the Navigation Room, voice neutral once more. "We should move fast. The Sector has taken much more damage than I expected. I knew that the X were powerful and destructive, but this is too much to just be random mayhem. If the SA-X is indeed sentient, then this is purposeful."

"It's sentient." Samus nodded grimly. "Possibly only on a juvenile level, but something's there, or else it's doing a damn good act. I saw it rummaging through some storage boxes and getting pissed when there wasn't anything it wanted inside."

"You did not say you had seen the SA-X," Adam said after a moment's pause. "A shame. I find the X fascinating. Although that's beside the point. What I was leading into is that this Sector contains one particularly dangerous lifeform known as Serris, from planet Dachu. The more senseless and widespread destruction in this Sector may be attributable to it."

"How dangerous are we talking here?" Samus raised an eyebrow. "If the X have copied this thing, I'd like to know just how much shit I'm in."

"A predator twenty feet in length, capable of moving at over 100 MPH," Adam explained. "You would likely be able to slay one, with extreme difficulty, but multiples..."

"Not too likely." Samus shook her head. _Time to throw him a bone, so he knows I'm still on his side._ "I've figured something out about the X. In addition to the normal breeds, there's one that I've only seen a couple of. They're much larger, and their colors don't mean anything, and they can grow protective shells. More importantly, they seem to be able to replicate critters much stronger than normal X. The Arachnus, and some sort of giant land jellyfish." She paused for a moment before continuing. "And when I eat one, I get a suit upgrade back."

"Fascinating, indeed." Adam's voice rose, excited. "If the X are a hive-minded species, then these 'Core-X' are likely similar to 'queens', controlling and regulating lesser brethren. Perhaps, then, it is not only strength that is limited to them, but intelligence as well. That would explain why 'worker' X attempts to emulate humans were less than successful."

"Damn, I think you're right." Samus blinked, genuinely surprised. "Never would have thought of that. You're pretty sharp for a clankcase."

"Appreciation noted." Adam's dry tone almost made her laugh, despite everything. "Back to the subject at hand, then. If there is only one X-infested Serris in existence, then slaying it may discourage the X from using what are likely limited amounts of 'Core-X' to create more." He paused, then continued. "Before that, however, this is related to the matter of my communication with the Federation."

"Oh yeah? How'd that go?" Samus asked calmly. _Right, let's see how good you are at coming up with stories on the fly._

"They have concluded that you will be unable to purge the infection alone, and will be sending in a complement of robotic drones, which should be immune to X infestation," Adam informed her. "However, there is another worry. Serris is not the only lifeform on this station capable of causing damage to the facility. If left unchecked, it and others of similar power may actually destroy the station before the drones arrive. The Federation would prefer you remain on-site to neutralize 'problem' lifeforms, and assist the drones upon their arrival."

"Makes sense," Samus said, and meant it. _Not bad at all._ "How's it gonna affect my pay?"

"The Federation will still pay you the agreed-upon sum once the Station is purged," Adam replied calmly.

"All I need to know. Not to mention finding more Core-X is good for me, too." Samus winced, thinking further about the implications of that. "Listen, uh... if they've only got a limited number of Core-X like you said... they'll probably use them on really powerful things, not sentients, right? If it's a choice between the two?"

"Most likely," Adam agreed after a moment. "Is there some sort of difficulty?"

"It's just something I've been trying not to think about too hard, is all," Samus admitted, sinking down to sit on the floor. "Killing X is fine. I've been killing enemies all my life, and it's never bothered me. Hell, it's what I'm _good_ at. But this isn't just killing X. I'm killing and _eating_ them. Animals are one thing. Nothing wrong with that, and it doesn't feel weird or anything. Mostly. But a Core-X... I can't explain it, it just feels strange. Good, but _wrong._ If I ate one that had been replicating a sentient..." She fell silent.

"I see." Adam spoke after a few quiet moments. "You are still uneasy with your new nature as a Metroid fusion."

"Wouldn't anybody sane be?" Samus asked, not really expecting a response. "Especially in this situation. Even if they're just mimicking sentience, which they might not be, getting used to doing that... I mean, Metroids didn't _only_ feed on X." She thought about Renpou, and once more felt the palm-fangs popping out. "It's a seriously nasty line of thought, but I keep coming back to it. How am I supposed to react to that?"

"Unfortunately, psychological evaluation is not within my programming," Adam admitted. "However... you have dealt with difficulty before in your life, yes? Physical and mental. I would suggest that you attempt to continue utilizing whatever methods proved successful beforehand, in this situation."

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it, huh?" Samus rose back to her feet. "Well, that's worth a shot, at least. All right, enough about me. Any ideas where I'll find this Serris?"

"Serris returns often to its own water tank." Adam indicated a point on the map, all business once more. "Perhaps territorial instincts too strong for the X to overcome just yet. Terminate it, before it does more damage, and be careful while you're moving. Some broken power nodes have electrified their water tanks."

"Just what I needed. An electric death bath." Samus rolled her eyes. "And let me guess. No luck convincing the station's computer to shut them down."

"It maintains that to cut the power would affect the whole station adversely," Adam confirmed with an exasperated noise. "I am attempting to explain the concept, but I would not place money on my success."

"Good luck with that, all the same." Samus moved towards the exit. "And hey, computer? Thanks for listening." _And there we have some reluctant camaraderie, for the moment. Let's hope the damn thing buys it._ _Funny thing is, I'd actually be leaning that way if I hadn't overheard that call. Almost a shame. Still, no use crying over spilled beer. At least this should provide a nice change of pace._

The first tank of water was electrified, as Adam had warned; peering in, Samus saw the exposed wiring clearly. Fortunately, there was a catwalk hanging from the ceiling by chains, providing her a way over once she blasted all of the crablike animals off of it. _Scizors. That reminds me what else I noticed in Sector 2. I'll have to keep count of what else I see here._ Looking up at a service shaft in the ceiling, she saw a spiked shell crawl out. _An owtch._ Reaching the other side of the tank, she went through a hatch, dropped into another, safe one and blasted a spiny fish inside. _And there's a skultera. Three strikes. Reos and sidehoppers in the jungle _might_ have been a coincidence, but this tears it._

Thinking about the station, she almost missed what could have been a disaster; a free-floating X, swooping in on a skultera. The fish blurred, and then reappeared, twice its previous size.

"What the _hell?_" Snarling, Samus hit it with a missile, then burned the rest of the way into the wound with a charged shot. Hissing, the aquatic beast died, and she snatched the X. "Okay, that's a _bad_ precedent to be setting. If they do that with sidehoppers..." She shuddered, hopping out of the tank on the other side and through the hatch. Peering into the next, she saw exposed wiring, and frowned. "No catwalk here. How the hell am I supposed to get over..." Looking up, she saw rungs stretching across the ceiling. "You've gotta be shitting me."

Unfortunately, it seemed that was the only option, and with a mutter about her pay, Samus leapt up and grabbed hold. _For once, I'm glad my suit's been stripped down. No way could these hold me up in the full rig._ Painfully slowly all the same, she inched her way across to the other side, then dropped next to a smashed power generator. The map showed that she'd need to go up a service shaft next, and she did so with a shrug, weeding more crawling owtch out as she went. At the top, she took a moment to catch her breath, then opened the hatch to Serris' tank. "All right, you evolutionary freak. Time to make your contribution to extinction."

The tank looked about a hundred feet in diameter, and ten deep. Clearly visible at the bottom was the skeleton of the original Serris, nothing more than a serpentine spine and a hideous skull.

"Yeesh. Poor bastard." Looking around further, Samus saw a few ledges on the rim of the tank, and more metal rungs on the ceiling above it. Hopping onto a ledge, she sighed and began looking around the empty room. "Right. Now I just have to wait for this thing to get back here. Clankcase said it came back often. How often is often? Chrissakes."

The attack, when it came a moment later, wasn't even visible. The impact simply slammed Samus forward into the water, and as she twisted around in midfall to fire back, it was already out of eyesight.

"Damn, that's fast, all right." Snarling, she jumped out of the water and back onto the ledge, then further to cling to the ceiling. As she grabbed on, she finally saw Serris; a gray spined and plated serpent, quintuple-eyed over predatory fangs. Arcing out of the water in a series of jumps, it had slowed down some, but still leaped faster than Samus would have liked. Taking aim, she nailed the best with a charged shot in the head. "Jackpot!"

Instantly, the beast roared back into full speed, doing a lunging backflip back towards Samus. She barely managed to drop in time to avoid it, noting in passing that it was now glowing iridescently. "Planet Dachu-that's Shinespark energy! Damn! That explains why it's so fast!"

As soon as her feet touched the ledge, she jumped again, but was still clipped by Serris' next lunge, throwing her off-balance. Careening wildly through the air, she somehow managed to slot a foot into the metal rungs instead of her hand, and managed another headshot before slipping out and tumbling into the water. Whipping around in what looked almost like defiance of gravity, Serris plunged in after her, jaws gaping.

"Shit!" Samus struggled to jump away again, but to no avail; water resistance and the enemy's insane speed conspired against her, and Serris seized her in its maw. Gasping in pain as it bit in, she forced her blaster arm against the lower mouth, then unloaded half her quote of missiles. Serris screamed, the explosions breaking its jaw, and Samus slipped out. "Right. Not doing _that_ again!" Jumping out of the water once more, she returned to the ceiling.

Serris was leaving blood in the water everywhere it went, now. Within moments, the entire tank was tinted red. Roaring, the beast lunged for Samus once more at full throttle, and was met with a charged shot in the face as she slipped from beneath its path once more. Samus winced as she landed, clutching her wounds; the monster's teeth had penetrated deeply. A whip of its spined tail caught her off guard, and knocked her into the water once more.

"Goddammit!" Samus cursed, landing on her feet. _If it follows me in here, I've had it._ But no further attack came, and after a moment more, chunks of its body began raining in. _It's dead. That means-whoa!_ She jumped out of the water just in time to avoid the spike-shelled Core-X's headlong charge, but still managed to hit it with a missile as they passed. Once she was clear of water resistance, the rest was easy; only a few more explosives later, and the blob inside was free for the taking. Samus didn't flinch at the strange rush of pleasure that came with ingesting it, nor was she surprised by the return of her Speed Booster. What surprised her was how, in addition to the customary energy recharge, her suit actually physically healed itself.

_Life Energy._ Samus stared at her hand for the first time in days. _Nobody ever really figured out what it was, scientifically speaking, but Metroids drained it, turning their victims to dust. _After a moment, she chuckled. _Of course, it figures I don't get to be tougher than a battlecruiser to damage too. _That_ would have almost made this worth it._ Shaking her head, she climbed down from the tank. _Enough grousing, girl. You're still alive, and that's what counts. Now get out of here._

* * *

"Excellent work, Samus." Adam congratulated Samus before she even spoke. "It's a shame Serris was infected by the X, but there was nothing else to be done."

"Actually, I just beat it up, then chained it to the floor," Samus joked. "It _probably_ shouldn't be able to get out of that. Right?"

"Your sense of humor, as always, is exemplary," Adam replied dryly. "I assume you recovered another ability. If we remain here on this station, you may be able to return to a state capable of killing even the SA-X."

"I'm counting on it," Samus agreed, fighting the cold pang of fear that ran through her at the mention of its name. "If I can get on an even level with that thing, I can take it down. I'm better than it is. All it has is better gear."

"A positive attitude is helpful, but that is still some time off," Adam cautioned her. "However, HQ is still eager to assist in that. They now have Super missile data ready for you."

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Samus grinned openly. "I've been looking forward to getting those babies back. Where do I go around here?"

"Well, preferably _not_ around here, actually." Adam indicated a point on the map. "The Data Room in this sector is behind a Level 4 security hatch. Let's avoid opening those unless we absolutely need to. As for the Data Room in Sector 2... it seems the SA-X returned there after opening up Sectors 3 and 4 to infestation."

"That's a _hell no,_ then." Samus shuddered. "Am I going to have to go all the way back up to the Operations Desk, then? I didn't see a Data Room in Sector 1, so unless there's one in 3..."

"There is," Adam confirmed. "Sector 3, PYR, contains a Data Room, and has recently been invaded by the X. Going there would allow you to explore the area and learn its layout at the same time as getting your upgrade."

"Good enough for me." Samus stifled a yawn. "After that, though, unless something starts a fire, I'm going to want to take a break for a nap. I'm starting to get worn out."

"Acceptable," Adam said after a moment. "You will return to the ship, then?"

"No, I'm gonna sack out in a hall and hope the SA-X doesn't climb under the blankets with me. Of course I'm coming back to the ship." Samus rolled her eyes. "But that's after getting my Supers. See you there, Compy."

Despite her flippant tone, Samus still found herself eyeing the elevator down to Sector 2 as she passed by it. There was no sign of activity, but that just made her all the more suspicious, until she was safely down the lift to Sector 3. "All right. Got a map for me?" _And how much is actually on it?_ She mentally added.

"Of course." Adam brought it up. "Now then, in order to access the Data Room here, we'll need to open up the Level 2 hatches. The Security Room for those is in this Sector, but per regulations, it's not on the map, so you'll need to find it yourself. Of course, this will open up Sectors 5 and 6 to X infestation, but we've given up on purging the station alone anyways, so your recovery is now our primary objective."

"Guess that makes enough sense." Samus nodded. _Regulations. Sure, and I'm an Etecoon._ "I managed to find the room for the Level 1 hatches, so I should be able to do this too. Let's see how fast I can get in and out of here."

"Be careful, Samus," Adam warned. "Sector PYR is for organisms requiring high temperatures to survive. This Sector is still home to some very violent lifeforms for the X to infest. Also be sure to avoid areas with temperatures over five hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Your suit won't be able to protect you against those."

"Yeah, I got it." Samus waved as she walked out. _And I bet I know what a lot of those lifeforms are already._ "Catch you later."

Her guess was right; in the few minutes it took her to find the Security Room in a back hall, she encountered flaming Sovas and the Desgeega breed of the deadly Sidehoppers. Not long after that, she was forced to climb up a vertical shaft filled with wall-burrowing, vicious Fune worms. _And three strikes again. Only question now is to sit on this, or confront Mike the TV about it. Decisions, decisions..._ Looking down the shaft as she climbed, she shuddered. _Not even gonna try going down there. That just has "lava" written all over it._

As opposed to lava, the top of the shaft led her to a simulated desert. Crossing, it, Samus found the Data Room, grinning again as she downloaded the Super Missiles. "Bingo."

**Error.**A message popped up in her visor. **Due to damage, Power Suit is no longer capable of ****containing capacity for two calibers of missile. Modifying all present Missile Tanks for higher caliber... modification complete. Missile data deleted.**

"What the hell?" Samus muttered. _Damn suit can't keep both Super and normal missiles? Well, I guess I should be glad I got the Supers, even if they're slower._ She shook her head. _I didn't know it could do that with my Tanks, though. Even if I know more about the Chozo than anybody else, there's __still a lot about them-and this Suit-left for me to find out._ Leaving the room, she chuckled wryly. _At __least it stopped messing with my hair color._

The sight of the desert outside, however, killed her humor instantly. _Something_ had punched a huge chunk through the floor, into a service room below. Heart racing, Samus carefully peered inside, and saw nothing moving. _Was it the SA-X?_ Reluctantly, she dropped down and checked more carefully, turning up nothing. Just as she finished, however, she heard crashing sounds from back above, some of them regular like footsteps, but much louder. _That's too big to be the SA-X. What is it?_ Climbing back up, she saw the Data Room explode in flames. And from the wreckage, a robot the size of a car emerged. _Oh, great._

The robot was simply designed; six blue legs were set evenly around a tan cylinder. Motoring towards Samus with no visible sensors or weak points, it picked up speed quickly, and she was barely able to hurdle it as it crashed headlong into the wall behind her. Shaking itself slightly, it didn't even turn before charging again. Running as far towards the wreckage of the Data Room as possible before backflipping over the mechanical monster, Samus fired a Super down into the center of the robot as she passed overhead.

_If there's no weak point, just go for what's least protected. No point in wasting time on those legs._ Samus thought, repeating the process on the robot's third charge. Supers were slower, but the explosion was more than twice the size of an ordinary missile, and the robot reeled on its legs with each successful hit, shedding bits of scorched casing. The next time it charged, it suddenly ground to a halt at the last moment. Cursing, Samus barely stopped herself from jumping. "Trying to trick me, huh?" Turning, she hurdled it anyways, blinking as she fired; a launcher had risen from the robot's top. "What's that?"

Her question was answered momentarily; a metal sphere flew out from atop the robot, bounced a few times, and was still before exploding violently, spraying flames across the desert sand. "Goddammit, always with the fire!" Snarling, Samus rolled away from the fires, then jumped once more only an instant before being run down by the massive robot. "Piece of _shit!_" Firing another Super, she smiled as she saw the central portion's weathered and chipped look. _At least it's working._ _Can't tell how many more until I see what's actually in there, though._

Watching the robot halt its charge into the flames, she scowled, seeing it launch another firebomb. _Damn. If this turns out like the Arachnus fight, I'm roadkill. Can't force a kill in close quarters this time. _Watching the robot's legs kick up sand, the scowl faded into a smile, and she ran over to stand before the first patch of fire. The robot charged again, and when she hurdled and fired, it continued on into the flames for a few steps before correcting itself. Each one kicked sand across the fire, smothering it.

"Got you now, chummer!" Samus crowed, standing by the other flames. Whatever the robot's intelligence was, it was apparently unable to realize it was neutralizing its own weapon. There was a crack all the way down one side of the core now, and something inside was red... and not mechanical. "What the hell?" Another Super widened the gap, revealing a transparent plasteel tank containing what looked like a brain, a sight that brought the palm-fangs out instantly and set Samus' face into a snarl of pure hatred.

_No. That's _not _her. It's not nearly large enough._ She forced herself to think. _And she would have been taunting me by now. It's just a coincidence._

Still enraged all the same, she mercilessly continued to blast the core, peeling off the last of the tan shell. Suddenly, the robot changed its behavior, charging away from her instead of towards. Putting on the brakes, it braced itself, then made a stupendous vertical leap, plowing through the ceiling of the room like a battering ram. Samus stood there, staring wordlessly up as massive chunks of rubble fell down in front of her, and the sounds of the robot's legs quickly faded away into nothing. Finally, she said the only thing that came to mind.

"Yeah. You _better _run. Fucker." Spitting, she turned and left the desert and the remaining fires behind.

* * *

"Hey, compy. We've got a problem," Samus spoke as she entered the Navigation Room. "Why didn't you tell me there were security robots on this rock?"

"Ah. The security robots on base were all supposed to be deactivated, and kept in a quarantined garage," Adam responded after a moment. "Technically, they're actually closer to cyborgs, since they use artificial organic tissue as central processing. This made them at risk to X infestation, so they were deemed too dangerous to assist you. I take it a rogue security robot was responsible for the destruction in Sector 3."

"Damn straight. Piece of shit tried to mow me down, and it _fucked_ the Data Room. Won't be going back _there._" Samus made a rude noise. "Don't think it was infested yet, though. It ran away from me; an X wouldn't have done that. Must have been moving too fast for one to tag it before now. Still, as long as it keeps rampaging, it's only a matter of time."

"Unfortunately likely. I don't think HQ will object to destroying it if you meet it again," Adam said. "Well, at any rate... with Level 2 security locks released, Sectors 5 and 6 are now open to X infestation. That makes all sections of the station. These X are much more difficult to stop than we initially expected."

"You're telling me?" Samus sighed, sitting down on the floor. "So give it to me. What are these last two Sectors all about?" _As if I didn't already know one. Still, the other could be anything._

"Sector 5 is ARC; the opposite of Sector 3. Extremely _low_ temperatures," Adam explained. "With your current status in mind, I strongly advise against even contemplating setting foot inside."

"And by that you mean, Metroids die horribly. Yeah, I got that." Samus made a face. "Don't need that right now, thanks. Would a Varia Suit upgrade help me out there?" The Varia Suit was an armor upgrade; in addition to durability, it also added protection to extreme temperatures in either direction.

"HQ is currently working on that, as a matter of fact," Adam agreed. "Unfortunately, it would still not be enough to protect you against the SA-X's Ice Beam, but there would be enough insulation to

allow entry into Sector 5. Not to mention, protect against the lava sections of Sector 3. However, transforming a Varia Suit upgrade into data form is more difficult than a weapon. It will take several more hours before it's ready to go."

"Perfect time for me to catch a nap, then." Samus stood, stifling a yawn. "So is there a Data Room in Sector 6 I can use? Might as well check that place out."

"Indeed there is. Sector 6, NOC, is for cave-dwelling and nocturnal lifeforms," Adam confirmed. "I was about to suggest that myself."

"Glad to see we're on the same page. See you back at the ship, Cerbero." Samus left the room.

The trip back up to and through the Main Deck was uneventful; only Hornoads and slime zombies bothered her, and both were easily killed. The _Matrix_, when she returned to it, was undisturbed, and she entered it with a sense of relaxation that not even the hideous interior design could quash. Glancing back at the stateroom for a moment, she sighed and shook her head. _Not yet. One more thing to do first._ Instead, she headed forward to the cockpit.

"Hello, Samus." Adam greeted her as she entered and sat. "May I assist you with something?"

"Yeah." Samus nodded firmly. "Open up a hi-comm call. Long distance. Send it to Planet Krager..." She thought for a moment, then rattled off a long string of numbers.

"Understood." Adam sounded curious. "If I may inquire, who is receiving your attentions at this point in time?"

"My bartender. Who else?" Samus cracked. "Actually, there's something else I wanna discuss with him. Got a problem of the kind he's good with."

"All right, all right, I'm coming." Horzat's voice growled over the speakers as the comm connected. A moment later, the ancient Zebesian's face appeared on the monitor. "Oh, it's you. You're not done yet? Looks like you finally screwed one up, girlie."

"Go fuck a KiHunter. This shit got way out of hand, and it wasn't my fault," Samus snapped back. "I'm gonna be here for a while yet. The damn things replicated _me_, you crab, and it's at full power."

"Well," Horzat said after a few moments of stunned silence. "_Shit._ You sure you're getting paid enough for this?"

"Not at all, at this point." Samus shook her head in resignation. "But I'm stuck with it. At least I'm getting myself back up to full in the bargain, piece by piece. Get a load of this one; the Feds are actually _giving_ me upgrades. For _free._"

"Yeah, and I've got a cow out back that I pump tequila out of. Tell me another one." Horzat snorted. "Seriously? That's a new one. Probably not best to get into details right now, but I'd say something's up."

"No kidding. About that, actually..." Samus smirked without a trace of humor. _Can't talk about our little social club or Welhaam's gadget, but there are other things I can play ball with. My serve, computer._ "That's not all that's up here. Get a load of this. I've seen Zebesians and Zeroes both here. X-infested, of course."

"You're shitting me." Horzat narrowed his eye. "And they didn't let you know about that beforehand?"

"Not a thing. And that's not all." Samus leaned back in her chair. "Listen to this one, and tell me your guess on it. Six environmental sectors on this station. One of them's SR-388, of course. Another one's tropical jungle, and in there, I found Sidehoppers and Reos. Third one, water world, with Scizors, Owtches, and Skulteras. And in number four, which was high-heat, I ran into Funes, Sovas and Desgeega Sidehoppers. Haven't been to the last two yet. That enough for a guess?"

"Oh, yeah, I got a fuckin' guess." Horzat snarled, snapping his claw angrily. "Brinstar. Maridia. Norfair. And I'd keep my eyes out for Crateria in one of the last two. This station's not just SR-388. They've put together an artificial _Zebes_ on there. If I could get a ticket I'd bet my bar it'd all look just like home." He shook his head. "That's just putting the pieces together, though. The real million-dollar question is, _why._"

"Yeah. Point's the same, though. Whatever it is, _something_ is up." Samus shook her head. "I think I'd like to know just how recent this has been going on. Do me a favor, will you? See if you can look up any Federation expeditions to Zebes that managed to return alive and with animals."

"Yeah, I gotcha." Horzat sighed. "More work in my retirement, from the lady who prides herself on going in solo every time."

"You want to come up here and help with the killing stuff instead, that's good too," Samus challenged.

"I'll pass, thanks. Now get some sleep. I know you, and you've been working ever since you got there. If you're gonna die, at least do so in high style, not falling unconscious in the middle of a brawl." Horzat growled. "And watch your back." The comm cut out.

"Always do, crab," Samus muttered, standing. "Hate to say it, but he's right. Time for that nap now."

"Samus," Adam broke in. "I was unaware myself that this Station was being used to recreate Planet Zebes. Please don't think that I've been involved in anything being planned behind your back by the Federation."

"Really. Is that a fact, now." Samus fought down the temptation to bring up what she had overheard between him and Renpou. "Maybe. Maybe not. We'll be here for a while more, it looks like, so you've still got plenty of time to convince me not to ditch you when I fix the ship up. But you're going to need to _do_ a lot of that convincing if you want that, and I've never been a particularly trusting girl. If I were you, I'd use the time while I'm sleeping to think long and hard about where your loyalties lie, computer."

"I will do that, Samus," Adam promised. "The prospect of my own deletion is not a welcome one, I assure you."

"Good." She nodded. "I've already got _my_ priorities all in order, and the Federation's pretty far down the list. Even if you're not willing to put me above the Feds, you might wanna give some real consideration to self-interest. Especially when it comes to still having a self to be interested _in_. Wake me up if something goes wrong." With that, she headed back into the stateroom, and was asleep within minutes.


	6. Chapter 5: Knockin' On Heaven's Door

_**Chapter 5: Knockin' On Heaven's Door**_

Galactic Federation Headquarters was normally an orderly, logical complex of buildings, with the many men and women who worked their going about their lives and keeping civilized space running with a minimum of chaos. The occasional visitor of rough repute, such as bounty hunters, only made slight waves. Normally. The situation at hand on this day, however, was decidedly not normal. Something was very wrong in Galactic Federation HQ, and the nervous faces on everybody, from the lowest-level technicians and clerks to the owners of entire planets outright made it obvious to all.

If one needed any more evidence than that, they would only need to look at Samus Aran, who made her way through the highly-charged atmosphere like a natural disaster. Her normal, casual pace was discarded in favor of a stomping powerwalk that made the twisted snarl on her face unnecessary to convey her fury. Even the most self-important workers, upon seeing her approach, concluded that they had a pressing appointment somewhere on the other side of the city-or perhaps the planet-at that point in time.

Considering her temper, it was exemplary that Samus refrained from kicking the door to her destination down. Contenting herself with slamming it, she glared at the terrified secretary waiting for her. "All right. Where the fuck is this Toady guy, or whatever his name is?"

"Ah, Samus Aran. A sense of humor even when angered, I see. Interesting." A man sitting in the waiting room rose. "Commander Mark Todar. I'll be your new liaison with Galactic Federation Headquarters." He didn't proffer his hand.

"New-" Samus began to yell, then suddenly deflated, all the rage draining in an instant. After a moment, she spoke again, voice less than half of what it had been. "So. He's really dead, huh? No hope at all?"

"I'm afraid not. My office is this way." Todar turned and walked through the door, and after a moment, Samus followed. Sitting behind his desk, he continued. "It was very efficient. His body was cold by the time we found him."

"The Pirates," Samus thought aloud. "They can bring people back from the dead. They brought Ridley back, twice now. Maybe they'll have Kraid back, too, by now. He's the one who'll have figured out how to do it. I'll find him, take him alive... get it out of him."

"Unfortunately, I doubt that would be effective," Todar disagreed, the slightest of smiles on his features. "Commander Malkovich was killed by a hand-blaster directly applied to the back of his skull, at point blank. Of course, we do not possess Kraid's technology, but I doubt even he could restore the entire brain, along with everything it held. To be technically blunt, all that remains of Malkovich's head is his face, Miss Aran."

"So that's it. It's over, just like that," Samus muttered, more to herself than to Todar. "All those years, and it ends when I'm not even here. I go out to do a job, just like normal, and when I come back, he's gone. It's completely out of my hands. I never get to say goodbye. I wouldn't have even found out until I came back here if Fleet Admiral Dane hadn't told me." She shook her head. "Guess in the end, I never even mattered."

"You have our deepest sympathies, Miss Aran," Todar said, sunset light coming from the window behind him, outlining his shape. "Both mine, and the Galactic Federation as a whole."

"Not good enough," Samus growled, regaining some of her attitude. "Who the hell did it? Tell me you're going to burn the fuckers."

"Investigations are under way," Todar replied tonelessly. "We found his body hours after the murder; he was working late into the evening, and was undiscovered until the next morning. Whoever was responsible also managed to override all security cameras in the building with previous footage. We have yet to discover the killer's identity or motives."

"You're serious? Shit. Guess Adam really was the only guy around here who knew what the hell he was doing," Samus snapped. "Well, whenever you find the bastard, tell your bosses if you turn him over to me, I'll do a mission for you boys free. No charge, no matter what or where."

"A tempting offer," Todar murmured. "Speaking of missions. Fleet Admiral Dane reported that your most recent one was completely successful, finally putting a close on the 'Metroid Prime' problem. Of course, I trust the Admiral's word, but it never hurts to obtain a corroboration."

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Samus shook her head. "Yeah, it's all over and done with. The bitch is dead; I'm sure of it, this time. Good riddance, too. If I ever see some piece of shit duplicating me again in my life it'll be too soon. All the Metroids involved are wasted, too. Unless the Pirates have made another run there, SR-388's the only place left with those freaks now. And I doubt they'd do that; trashed Ridley's ass a third time. They're weaker than they were after my run on Zebes. It'll take 'em a good long while to bounce back."

"Excellent news." Steepling his hands, Todar leaned forward over the desk, showing emotion for the first time with an eager smile. "And the Phazon? What of that?"

"Gone. All of it. I took my time and made sure every last bit of it went straight into a black hole or a star." Samus leaned back, regarding him coldly. "Dock my pay if you want, but I wasn't gonna turn any of that over to anybody, even you Feds. It's too fucking dangerous. You sent in four bounty hunters, and I'm the only one who didn't go nuts because of that stuff. Had to put the other three down myself, and they weren't slouches. Physically _or_ mentally. Even with Prime gone, the risk was too great. Sometimes the Federation doesn't really seem to get that concept."

"I see." Todar's face faded into blankness again. "Very well. I shall report as such to my superiors. Whether your pay will be altered or not is up to them. You have assisted the Galactic Federation most capably on numerous occasions, and doubtless they wish to retain your services. Now then, as to your next assignment..."

"Next assignment? Fuck _that._" Samus rose to her feet. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a bounty hunter, not an employee. I don't get assignments, I accept contracts, of my own free will. And I don't take them until I've been paid for the last one. Even if you had the credits on you right now, though, I still wouldn't say yes. Not after this. I'm heading out of here, and I'm going on a bender for a month at the _least._ I'll call you back after I get sick of beating my own record time for going from hung over to blasted. Don't bother me until then."

"Very well, Miss Aran." Todar smiled again, eyes narrowed. "I will remain here in government service. I get the feeling that you do not particularly care for me, but unlike my predecessor, I will not be departing from the Federation-or this plane of existence-any time soon. I hope your opinions will not provide an obstruction to the advancement of both our career paths."

"You're damn right I don't like you, Todar," Samus snapped. "You're everything Adam spent his entire life trying to turn around in the Federation, to my eyes. I don't know whether it was bad luck that you got stuck with me, or if somebody up the ladder didn't like the way me and Adam were getting chummy. But either way, I'm sure as hell not changing anything about myself, so either get used to me or get somebody else to do this. Your call, Fed."

"That will not be necessary; I, at least, am capable of putting my personal opinion towards somebody aside when appropriate." Todar inclined his head slightly towards her. "On that note, don't let me detain you from your entertainment... or would therapy be the better word?" His eyes glittered. "My own profession, alas, requires me to put in steady hours, and there is quite a bit more I must do today. Until next we meet, Miss Aran."

"Yeah. Whatever," Samus muttered. _Go fuck a Rocket Ripper._ Clenching her fist, she stalked off, intent on putting as much space between herself and Prime as possible, as quickly as she could. The walk back to the dock and her departure were silent, almost mechanical. It was only when the _Chozo_ had gone into hyper, set for Magani, that she finally put her head in her hands and left it there, silently grieving until her arrival. Grieving for the only male of her own species that she had, for a brief point in time, actually trusted.

Then she downed an entire quart of 151 proof rum, burned some flags, and threw up on the local chief of police's lawn.

* * *

"Good morning, Samus." Adam greeted her as she rolled out of bed and collided with the floor. "Not that there is any actual progression of such things on this station. It seemed appropriate to say, regardless."

"Your mother was a blender, and your father smelt of petrol," Samus growled, peeling herself off the floor. She considered a shower for a moment, then sighed and went out to the common room instead, starting up the coffee pot. For a moment, she dwelled on the old memories, then shook her head violently. _Just forget all of that. It's over. He's dead, and nobody's going to bring him back. _Once she had a mug, she regarded the ceiling for a moment before speaking. "Done any thinking about what we talked about?"

"I have considered your suggestions," Adam replied. "After some time, I made the decision to contact Federation HQ and inquire as to the station's reasoning for carrying samples from Zebes, both sentient and non."

"That a fact," Samus said noncommittally. _Fuck. Should have called Horzat _after_ my nap, so I could have listened in on that. That's a point for you, computer._ "They say anything interesting, or was it just the standard shit?"

"After some prodding, and vague mentions towards your status as a freelancer, along with the possibility of losing those services, Commander Kojin confessed," Adam explained. "This station is meant for top-secret research in the zoological field. The subjects which the civilized galaxy should not be aware of, for various reasons. This is why it was built on the Far Side, in SR-388's orbit, instead of Federation space. Serris, for example, was being observed in hopes of replicating Shinespark Energy, which no other power suits but yours have been able to accomplish thus far."

"I wondered about that. Didn't seem like it'd be that big a deal to ship critters from SR-388 to somewhere else," Samus admitted. _Might even be true, to an extent. _"That's nice, but it's not exactly helpful. Did you get anything actually useful?"

"This station is not only used for observation, Samus. Biological engineering is also present on this station, and is of a similarly top-secret nature," Adam continued. "For an example of that, we need only look at the renegade security robot you encountered. Its use of an artificial organic core is highly experimental. The robots on this station are the prototypes. There are other, similar experiments on this station. Some of them cybernetic, like the robots, and some completely organic."

"Build your own monster, test tubes not included. Super." Samus sighed and washed out her coffee mug. "I'm guessing they filled you in on the lot, but commanded you to only let me know if one became a threat."

"Correct," Adam replied. "However... without actually compromising my orders, I can inform you that there is one in each Sector; the Robots were being kept in Sector 3. Additionally, all living Sentients were kept on the Main Deck rather than in the habitat sectors. There were three other sentient species kept aside from Zebesians and KiHunters. Unfortunately, I have been unable to persuade the station's computer to allow me access to that area, so I cannot report on their status."

"Keep trying there. I want to know as much about what I'm dealing with as possible." Samus stretched and walked over towards the exit. "And check out Sector 5. I'll have to go in there soon, I'll bet, and if there's something else like that robot that's been infested, then you'd damn well better give me more info than _that_ before I have to take it down. Clear?"

"Understood, Samus," Adam confirmed.

"Good. I'm heading to Sector 6. Or Crateria, whatever you'd prefer." Samus nodded. "See if you can get something on that too, while you're at it. Talk to you there."

The journey back down to the environmental sectors was as dull as the trip from them had been, but the X she killed and absorbed on her way kept her from needing anything to eat after her nap, as she had guessed. It also gave her time for the caffeine to finish energizing her system. When she entered Sector 6's first Navigation Room, Samus felt significantly less grumpy than she had upon awakening. She even manged to wave half-sarcastically at the monitor.

"Hello again, Samus." Adam returned the greeting. "The Varia Suit data will be ready to download, in Sector 6. The Data Room is on the map. However, there's another problem. We've underestimated the X yet again."

"If you're going to tell me the SA-X is in here, I'm gone. Otherwise, I'll deal." Samus shrugged. "Hit me."

"The X which infested Sector 5, ARC, have appeared to mutate," Adam explained. "Some of them have reduced their own internal temperatures to similar levels. How they can survive doing so is a mystery to me, but regardless, it has happened. What truly baffles me is that they predicted your coming to this Sector."

"So let me get this straight." Samus put a hand to her helmet. "They're here. We've got Ice X in this sector. And if I know the X, they'll be doing suicide runs at me."

"Correct. Until you obtain your Varia Suit, any benefit from absorbing the X will be likely outweighed by the damage done to your body from taking X of sub-zero temperature into your body. Especially considering a Metroid's weakness." Adam agreed. "This was a deliberate tactic, Samus. Either the SA-X, or another sentient X, must be responsible."

"Figures. Well, at least once I get the Varia Suit, I should be fine." Samus shook her head disgustedly. "Anything dangerous on this floor I need to know about?"

"Surprisingly, no. This Sector contains no life-forms I would consider worthy of a Core-X," Adam said. "Just be careful of the, ah, Ice-X. You'll be able to identify them by their blue coloring, and increased size; their forms are mostly liquid, causing them to expand with decreased temperatures. With that change, you may actually be able to stun them with your beam."

"Worth a shot, hey? I'm off, then. Catch ya." Samus waved again as she left, turning on her headlamp; there would be no little to no lights in this Sector. Almost immediately, as she began moving through the dark and rocky environment, Welhaam's device came to life.

"Well, Adam?" Renpou's voice came through as Samus began shooting down critters. "How'd it go? Does Samus suspect anything else?"

"It's hard to tell," Adam replied after a moment. "Like I told you before, I'm sure she let me know about her suspicions deliberately. She's much more intelligent than she lets on, and definitely moreso than Commander Todar assessed. However, I don't think she knows about the _important_ things."

"Well then, that _is_ what's important, isn't it?" Renpou chuckled. "Keep helping her recover her strength, and keep her alive. Monitor her _very_ closely, old boy, regardless of your feelings on the subject. Understood?"

"Affirmative, sir," Adam confirmed sourly. "Is there anything else?"

"No, that'll do for now. Just keep me posted." Renpou cut the connection.

"Well, they can't all be informative." Samus shook her head, making a face as she stepped in a patch of glowing green fungus. "Still, can't argue about the jerks thinking I'm not onto them. Guess Todar's good for something, after all-whoa!" In a tunnel ahead of her, a blue X had come into view of her headlamp. Pausing in the air for a moment, it flew towards her. Without blinking, she blasted it, freezing it in motion. "Damn, that was close." Dashing past the inert blob, she escaped through a portal, silently thanking whatever Federation designer had unknowingly constructed them in a manner the X couldn't penetrate.

Sector 6 was different from the others, Samus decided after a little more travel. 1 through 3 had kept the rooms designed to resemble the environment and those that contained mechanical systems almost completely separate, while 4 didn't even bother, all of the lifeforms simply kept in tanks like an aquarium. Sector 6, though, broke the illusion with huge electronic scanners and bulky robotic arms built right in the midst of the lightless caverns. Alongside massive colonies of moss and hanging stalactites, the devices seemed strange, almost abhorrent.

"Look at you, girl." Samus chided herself with a chuckle. "You're turning into a damn dirty hippie. Bounty hunters are supposed to be city folks-aw, hell!" Distracted, she had only seen the three Ice X swooping in at the last second. Bringing her arm up, she blasted frantically, but only managed to nail two before the third crashed into her headlong. For a brief instant, she felt the blob covering her face and torso, and then it was gone, absorbed into her system deliberately. "Shit, shit, shit!" Whirling, Samus began to run towards the closest portal even as she began to feel the result.

In her career, Samus had dealt with extremely high temperatures much more often than low ones. She had been scorched almost on a regular basis, sometimes quite badly, but frostbite and hypothermia were experiences she had yet to encounter. As the cold blasted through her nervous system, she idly noticed how strangely similar it was to heavy burns. Sharp, blazing pain filled every inch of her body, spreading from her torso outward. Gasping, she felt her body moving automatically towards the portal and moving into it. As soon as she was through, Samus fell to the ground, curled up and desperately trying to regain any trace of body heat.

It was another minute, or perhaps two, before Samus was able to force herself back to her feet. Even then, she was shivering as she continued towards her destination, and the cold feeling refused to leave her bones. Distracted, she barely noticed when she entered a non-environmental room, with a metal wall blocking it off. Frowning, she scanned it. "Damn. Bendezium. I'd need a Power Bomb to get through there..." She shook her head in disgust. "And I don't have those yet. Don't have time for this crap, either."  
As Samus turned around to search for another way around, she heard metal boots on the rock outside, and immediately forgot all other difficulties. Frantically looking around, she saw a waste disposal pit, and without a second though, went into Morph Ball form and slid inside. Fortunately, it was only a few feet deep before turning into a tunnel. Inside, she silently listened to what was happening above.

The SA-X's footsteps continued into the room, approaching the barrier, then paused. A moment later, the low ticking of a Power Bomb's countdown replaced them, and Samus held her breath. The explosion was vast; Chozo technology made Samus' power suit immune to the massive energy detonation, but most other things were laid waste, including most of the waste tunnel. As her Morph Ball's sensors showed her hideaway being ripped apart, Samus silently realized that she was finally about to die.

No death came, however, and after a few absolutely numb moments, Samus realized that the blast radius had stopped just short of herself. _Don't look back, don't look back..._ The metal boots echoed through the room once more, but they were growing quieter, moving away. Soon, the sounds of the SA-X were gone entirely. Even so, as before, Samus waited for what seemed like an eternity before crawling out and following its path.

_I wasn't any better than before._ Samus berated herself as she continued through the cavern. _As soon as I knew that thing was there, I just shut down. What the hell is wrong with me?_ Shaking her head, she suddenly jumped as she saw several more Ice-X flying her way. Running onward, her panic turned to anger; there was an Eye Guardian on the portal to the Data Room. _So much for nothing here a Core-X would want. Damn computer._ Fortunately, only one Super Missile killed it, and she was able to dash through without the Ice-X catching her.

"All right, let's see what it is this ti-what the _fuck?_" Samus snarled. There was a Core-X, all right, but it was in its base form, not a replicant. More importantly, it was on the downloading machine, and from the thing's behavior, it was activated. The X's spined shell was far from an exact fit, though, and as it crunched itself in, the machine began to break and explode. A moment later, the Core-X flew away from Samus, through the far hatch, which had been forced open.

"You have got to be _fucking_ kidding me." Samus spat, giving chase. "The damn things can download _my_ upgrades from HQ now? What's next? Replicating goddamn _Ridley_ to send at me? There is no _way_ I am getting paid enough for this shit." The chamber she followed it into was huge, both wide and high-ceilinged. There was a pit of water covering most of the floor, about five feet deep, with a few rocks protruding above it of various heights; some barely above the surface, some almost twice her height.

From the depths of the cavern, the Core-X flew out, mutated by the Varia data. The shell was no longer transparent; it had turned green, with a yellow spiderweb pattern overlaying it. More importantly, the parasite had grown to a tremendous size, and was now larger than the _Matrix_. Looming above Samus for a moment, it charged.

"Oh, this is going to suck..." Samus muttered to herself, firing a Super Missile. The blast jarred the Core-X for a moment, but only that, and it continued its rush. Another had the same effect, and before she could launch a third or get out of the way, the behemoth struck, crushing her up against the wall. Snarling, Samus pushed back with all her strength, using both arms and legs to keep the jabbing spines from completely impaling her. Moving her blaster into a downward aim, she fired, pushing the Core-X just a bit downward and away.

"Ride 'em, cowgirl," Samus quipped again as she grabbed one of the Core-X's spikes, and pulled herself onto its top, firing charged shots as fast as she could. Making a distorted shriek, the Core-X began rotating around wildly, and Samus found herself hanging on by the spike in her hand while she was whirled around. Gritting her teeth, she continued to fire until her ride finally slammed her into the ceiling, forcing her grip loose. Even as she fell, she launched another Super Missile up at it before colliding with the water, and then the pondbed below.

Shaking off the dizziness, both from the wild ride and the fall, Samus pulled herself onto a rock just in time to avoid being smashed once more. Turning, she saw that the X's shell had begun to change colors, altering into an angry-looking orange and red. Smirking, she blasted it once more. "Got your number now, big shot." When the behemoth rushed her next, she simple hopped to another rock, and then another after that. The Core-X's headlong charges, like those of the Security Robot, made quick turns impossible.

Fortunately, when the shell finally shattered, the violet X inside was only the size of a normal Core, rather than being grossly inflated as well. "Damn good thing, too." Samus commented as she leapt up to absorb it. "Otherwise, I'd have either exploded or ended up looking like Kraid." Landing, she smiled and clenched her fist as the feeling of devouring a Core-X was coupled with the much more familiar sensation of her Suit changing itself, a tingling that covered every inch of her skin. For a moment, her visor was filled with blinding white light, and when it faded, the Varia Suit now covered her body.

"Not bad." Samus noted, examining herself in the water's reflection. Her stripped-down suit was now adhering to traditional colors, at least; yellow and orange. More importantly, the cringe-worthy hot pink helmet was now red, to her significant relief. "Damn, it feels good to have that gone." Sticking a foot in the water, she nodded; there wasn't even the slightest chill. "And that should take care of the temperature issues. Now then, time to find some more of those Ice-X." She grinned wickedly. "I always did enjoy payback time."

* * *

"I see you've acquired the Varia Suit data, Samus," Adam said as she walked in. "Well, what distressing news on our underestimation of the X's capabilities have you brought me back for me this time, then?"

"You're becoming a cynic," Samus noted. "Good. It's the only way to survive in this line of work." She blinked, surprised at herself. _Did I just give that thing career advice? In _my_ career? Focus, girl. Can't trust this thing a bit, remember?_ "And you're absolutely right. That's another Data Room that's scratched. A Core-X got there first." She paused. "Might want to brace yourself for this one. Take a seat, put down your drink, that sort of thing."

"Were I to possess a physical body, I would doubtless follow your advice," Adam replied dourly. "As I do not, however, I simply request that you inform me of the problem."

"Fair enough." Samus sighed. "Don't ask me how, but it downloaded the Varia Suit before I could. I had to beat it and eat it to get my goods."

"An X... downloaded the Varia Suit data?" Adam repeated, sounding stunned. "Samus, that makes no sense."

"Tell me about it." Samus rolled her eyes. "I'd have been dropping my jaw myself, except I didn't have time for that."

"If the X can process electronic data organically..." Adam continued, thinking aloud. "Then they may be able to carry that trait over to their replicants of Zebesians and KiHunters."

"Yeah, the Pirates could use Varia and Gravity Suit upgrades on their own natural shells. Pain in the ass." Samus remembered with a wince. "Wait. If the X could figure that out, and get it perfected... think they could do the same with other replicants too? I don't know about you, but a full-grown bull Sidehopper with triple durability is _not_ my idea of a good time."

"A plausible and terrifying possibility," Adam said after a moment. "Let us hope the Federation's robots arrive before the X learn to do so. At any rate, you now have the Varia Suit data, so you should be protected from most temperatures."

"Damn straight. Had a nice little buffet on those stupid Ice-X on the way back. No problems at all." Samus smiled wickedly, then let it drop. "Question is, will the SA-X's Ice Beam still take me down?"

"I believe you will no longer be paralyzed, but it will still be extremely harmful," Adam replied after a moment. "Continue to avoid the SA-X, as you did when it followed you here. I'm afraid it entered the Sector just after our last discussion, or I would have warned you."

"No shit. I know when something's too much for me." Samus winced, remembering her reaction to its presence. _I'm going to have to get over that sometime._ "My Supers are the only thing that'd even hurt it, and I'm-it's-too fast for those to get in except for a lucky shot. I'll need my Beam up to full power-the Plasma Beam would probably do it."

"I was about to suggest that myself," Adam agreed. "Unfortunately, the Federation is still working on their Plasma Beam; it's the most advanced, after all. They claim it's near completion, and of course it's now top priority, but..."

"But don't get my hopes up. Fair enough," Samus said, nodding. "I'll just have to hope on getting it from a Core-X instead. Got my Charge Beam that way, after all. Should be able to manage my other Beams too."

"All except the Ice Beam," Adam corrected. "The Varia Suit protects your outer body; it can't neutralize the Metroid's weakness to low temperatures internally. If you had your complete armor back, it would be a different story, but as it is, there isn't sufficient protection between your blaster and your organs. An attempt to regain the Ice Beam would either be rejected or cause permanent damage to your systems. My knowledge of gambling suggests that any game in which all outcomes are unfavorable is not one to join, but I am not an expert in such fields."

"Yeah, yeah, I get the point, already. No Ice Beam." Samus rolled her eyes again, but smiled. "Guess I'm out of luck there."

"Not quite," Adam corrected. "HQ was aware of this, and attempted an experiment which worked surprising well. A modification to the payload of your Missiles would be more insulated than a Beam upgrade."

"Ice Supers?" Samus whistled appreciatively. "Hope they gave whoever thought that one up a raise. I _like_ that idea."

"I surmised that you might," Adam said. "It seems that only Sector 5 is available for the download. All other Data Rooms have been destroyed."

"Figures. Well, at least I can go in without turning into a Huntercicle now," Samus joked. "All right, I'm off."

When she arrived in Sector 5, Adam was waiting once more. "Ah. Samus. I've pulled up the map of this Sector, and I'm afraid that the Data Room here is blocked by a Level 3 hatch."

"Figures. And let me guess." Samus crossed her arms. "By an astonishing coincidence, the Level 3 Security Room is here too."

"Ah. I'm afraid so," Adam replied after a moment. "Well, at least this should be familiar to you by now?"

"Yeah, something like that. Don't worry, Computron. I'm not _quite_ paranoid enough to think you're actually directing the X." Samus tapped her fingers. _Yet, anyways._ "Just keeping you on your toes."

"Of course." Adam sounded unamused. "Well, acquire the Ice Missiles, at any rate. And feel free to test them on your way back. They should come in handy."

"And are you going to teach me how to walk next?" Samus cracked as she headed out. "Testing new weapons is one of the things I do best. Keep working."

Unlike all of the other Sectors beforehand, Sector 5 was not visibly based on any familiar environments, and so Samus found herself slightly uneasy as she made her way through it. Aside from a few Chute Leeches, which were a species found on multiple planets, all of the lifeforms were alien and unpredictable. The fact that the one wall of the huge entrance chamber was completely paned by glass, with a massive safe covered in warning signs behind it, did not help. "That must be where this Sector's freak of science is being kept locked down," Samus muttered. "Good thing I don't have to mess with that. Better thing that it's in there so tight."

As she proceeded further into the sector, she found every surface completely covered in ice; walls, floors and ceilings, which of course dripped icicles. In some points, this weakened the metal enough for her to bomb her way through, which proved necessary-to her irritation, Level 3 and 4 hatches abounded. Every time she was forced to look for somewhere to open her own way, Samus grew more irritable. The Security Room, at least, wasn't very difficult to locate once she actually found her way to the bottom of the Sector.

From there, her progress was significantly easier, and she found the Data Room without much trouble. For once, there was no difficulty taking the upgrade, and there continued to be none as she made her way back out. Instead of being relieved, Samus narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "This is too easy. The X are just screwing around here."

Despite her paranoia, however, no Eye Guardians were visible. More importantly, there was no sign of the SA-X. Samus kept her ears open for even the slightest sound of its boots, but her fears continued to be unverified.

It was only when she returned to the entrance chamber that something went wrong. As she made her way across, Samus suddenly jumped, hearing a massive sound from behind the gigantic safe. More than anything, it sounded like a ship's jets being activated, though it was only in short bursts. Regardless, they kept repeating, and Samus couldn't stop herself from watching the barrier out of the corner of her eye until she left the Sector behind.

"Damn. There has _got_ to be some way I can persuade that stupid Servo to tell me about-"

"Emergency in Sector 3!" The station's computer suddenly howled, interrupting her. "Emergency in Sector 3!" At the same time, all of the lighting began flashing red, distorting everything in view.

"It never _fucking_ fails!" Samus snarled, rushing to the Navigation Room as fast as she could run. "All right, Adam, what the hell is going on?"

"To be brief, and I have to, we are in serious trouble, Samus." Adam replied quickly. "Sector 3 is about to completely melt down. The main boiler for the entire station is in that Sector, and something's causing the cooling unit to malfunction."

"The X. It's the fucking X." Samus punched the wall. "They didn't try anything on me here because they were working on _this._ Is it the SA-X?"

"Negative. That replicant is currently in Sector 2," Adam replied. "However, the cooling unit doesn't seem physically damaged, so it must have been overridden. A sentient replicant must be responsible, hacking the cooling unit's computer."

"Double fuck." Samus closed her eyes for a moment. _You knew it would happen eventually, girl. __And now you don't have time to do anything but what you have to._ "Let me guess. If that boiler goes up, the entire station's going kaboom along with it."

"Almost certainly," Adam agreed. "I don't know why the X are embarking on such a suicidal course, but there's no time to speculate."

"What the hell am I supposed to do about this? I'm not a hacker. I don't know shit about computers that aren't for ships." Samus demanded, thinking quickly. _If Welhaam's still on Krager... Horzat'll have to play it careful, but..._ "Can you talk to me in the boiler room?"

"Negative. I won't be able to reach you in Sector 3 at all until the disturbance has been rectified. This damned station's computer has shut down all non-critical systems in there." Adam sounded furious, but still kept his voice level. "Our only hope is that the replicant responsible won't have logged out. If you have access to the computer, you won't need to hack anything, just turn the cooling system back on. I predict six minutes before the boiler reaches critical temperatures. Be careful, but hurry."

"I'm gone, then." Samus ran out. "See you in hell if we don't make it, computer."

Fortunately, Sector 3 was right next to 5, and so minimal time was wasted moving from one elevator to the next. Even so, Samus chafed at the precious seconds spent on the lifts, and jumped off of the second almost before it had arrived. Rushing through the antechambers, she activated her Speed Booster, and began glowing with the same energy that Serris had utilized, rushing through like a human bullet. The process was repeated every time she had a long enough stretch of land; unlike her normal behavior, she simply ignored all X that were not directly in her path.

Returning to the vertical shaft of Fune wall worms, Samus climbed down the metal rungs on the side as quickly as possible, dropping as soon as she estimated it possible to do so without hurting herself. The Funes, she simply froze with her Ice Missiles. At the bottom, the path led into lava caverns reminiscent of Norfair on Zebes. Her Varia Suit kept her from being boiled alive, but actually falling in would have been a different story, so Samus was forced to slow down enough to avoid doing so, biting off curses with every breath.

The rooms behind the lava cavern were already beginning to suffer heat damage; here was where the main boiler was actually located, but the map showed her destination in a smaller room beyond. Dodging the lunges of the even more vicious Nahine breed of Funes, Samus looked over the breaking metal everywhere and shuddered. _Unless that computer room and the cooling unit are better heat-protected than this stuff, we've already had it._ When she finally reached the Eye Guardian, her suit's clock told her there were two minutes to spare. Grabbing the red X without a moment's pause, she went in.

To her relief, the control room seemed to be far less damaged, and the computer systems all looked intact. Dropping from the catwalk down to the terminal, Samus narrowed her eyes. Standing before it, fingers dancing on the keyboard, was Gori, one of the scientists she had been hired to escort on SR-388.

"Samus! Thank god!" The middle-aged man turned to her, looking relieved. Without a power suit, he looked even less intimidating than before; the slacks and labcoat he wore didn't lend him any particular air of confidence. "When I heard the computer saying what these things did, I made a run for it. No point in hiding if I was going to die anyways. But I don't know how to fix this!"

"Really? Well, I'm hired to solve problems." Samus said noncommittally, walking over. "Here, let me take a crack at it."

"With pleasure." Gori wiped his brow and stepped aside. As soon as she had moved next to him, his hand darted into a labcoat's pocket.

"Nice try." Samus seized his arm before it could emerge and slammed it against the closest wall until he released the hand blaster, then broke all the fingers with a quick jerk. Ignoring his screaming, she calmly kicked him in the gut next, dropping him to the floor. Almost as an afterthought, she stomped on the other hand before turning to the terminal. "Good. You're still logged in after all. Let's see here... cooling system."

"Bitch." The replicant on the ground snarled, giving up the pretense. "You're just prolonging the inevitable. We did this for you as a favor!"

"A favor? How the fuck does _that_ work?" Samus demanded as she continued to work, watching him out of the corner of her eye. "Last I checked, your kind were all trying to kill me, X."

"X? Is that what you call us? I suppose there are worse names." Gori laughed harshly for a few moments. "Our favor was making your death swift and painless. The you among the Kindred realized as soon as she lived that it was you who we needed to thank for freeing us. You killed the Hungry Ones, and allowed us to flourish at last. The you of us would have been the queen of our kind, for such an honor. The name of Samus Aran would have lived forever in our memory!"

"That thing is _not_ me," Samus snapped. "It's an abomination, like all of you. And I'm going to kill it, just like all of you." Finally finding what she was looking for, she reactivated the cooling unit, and smiled as the temperature immediately began to decrease. "Phew. Just in time." Turning away, she regarded the replicant coldly. "You're still not making any sense. Your twisted logic says you _like_ me. And so you want to kill me, even if it's fast? Wouldn't something more along the lines of _not_ trying to kill me be more in order?"

"You know the answer to that yourself," Gori hissed. "You've become one of the Hungry Ones yourself, Samus Aran. You weren't when the Kindred blessed you, but you are now. The last of them. They are the true abominations, and must be destroyed at all costs. Every one of the Kindred aboard this station was willing to sacrifice their lives for this. The Kindred would still exist on our home planet, and would be able to leave eventually."

"Nice thought." Samus shook her head. "You really are some twisted little blobs, you know that? Afraid I'll have to decline the gift, though. Nothing personal."

"I noticed," Gori remarked dryly. "Very well then. You will die at your own hands. She will find you eventually. Even if you flee from this station, she will never stop chasing you, never stop hunting you. The last thing you see in this world will be your own face, and you will die knowing that she was better than you ever could be."

Walking forward again, Samus calmly kicked the replicant in the jaw, sending him flying. Without a word, she walked over and slammed her boot down on his neck, grinding it in slowly. "I think we've gotten the pleasantries out of the way. Why don't we get down to business, then?" She looked down at the false human and forced her face into a nasty grin she didn't feel.

With an abrupt crack, the replicant's neck broke. Gori convulsed for a moment before shimmering and returning to its Core-X form. It was the same as the one that had been pretending to be a Chozo statue; the spines were exchanged for a much thicker shell, and a single glowing eye watched her before firing a beam, which Samus easily dodged.

"Already know your game, blob boy," She muttered, nailing the eye with a missile, and then another, and another. As with the previous one, no real strategy was necessary; its movements were slow, and easily avoided. Half a dozen missiles broke it apart, and Samus stared up at the Core-X for a moment before leaping and snatching it out of the air. Landing, she tensed herself, but the warm feeling was identical to all the rest of the Core-X.

"Okay, cool." Samus smiled after a moment, examining her systems. "Wide Beam, huh? Well, it's not the one I'd have picked myself, but it'll still come in handy." She waited a few moments more, just to be safe, but there seemed to be no further reaction. "Well, guess paranoia isn't _always_ justified. That's a load off my mind." Shrugging, she turned to examine the terminal again.

_"What's going on?" Gori yelled, bursting out of his quarters. His fellow scientists were running around, panicking, and none of them answered him. "I asked what's going on here, people!" There was __still no answer, and after a frustrated growl, Gori grabbed Jin and forced her to stop. "Jin, I am your __superior and I _demand_ that you explain this to me!"_

_"It's the X!" Jin whimpered, terrified. "There was an explosion, and they're loose! The X are loose, sir! They're coming for us!" _

"No. No. Oh god, no." Samus clutched her stomach, sinking to the floor. "No no no _fuck_ no. Don't do this."

_"Dear god." Gori said, stunned, releasing her. "No. How? How did this happen? Damn you to Hell, Renpou, you told me this wouldn't happen! You told me there was no chance any of them could break out!" He turned on Dunn, who was at a terminal. "Can we get to the escape pods? Is there any way?" _

_"No, sir!" Dunn looked back, wide-eyed. "They've cut us off! They'd kill us if we went there! There's no place to run!" _

"Stop it, stop it, stop it..." Samus gagged, then punched herself in the gut. She heaved, but nothing came up, even bile. "Please, stop this..."

_"They're here!" A scientist screamed from the door, a moment before being consumed in an explosions. Through the rubble, a familiar figure walked, slowly and purposefully. Her power suit was unique; no other like it existed in the galaxy. For a moment, Gori thought they had been saved by a miracle. Then he saw her eyes, white and blank, and he knew it for the angel of death instead. Mouth dry, he stared back, and waited for oblivion to take him._

No matter what she did, the images and memories kept invading her mind. Finally, she could struggle no longer. Wrapping her arms around her knees, Samus Aran, the most feared individual in the civilized galaxy, remained on the floor. Her mind not her own, the last Metroid rocked slowly back and forth, whimpering like a wounded animal, without any comprehension of the passage of time.


	7. Chapter 6: Speak Like A Child

_**Chapter 6: Speak Like A Child**_

"Samus. It's about time." Adam sounded irritated as she walked into the Navigation Room at the entrance to Sector 3. "I was beginning to worry something had happened."

"Shut up. Just shut the fuck up." Samus muttered, not even raising her voice. When Gori's memories had finally stopped invading her consciousness, her suit's clock showed that several hours had passed. "The problem's solved. It was a human replicant, all right. One of the crew. And..." She closed her eyes, but didn't speak further.

"I see." Adam said after a moment. "It possessed the memories and knowledge of its victim, didn't it, Samus? And when you absorbed it, in turn..."

"Yeah." Samus looked away. "Look, can we just talk about something else, already? It sucked. I'm done with it. End of story."

"Very well. However..." Adam paused for a moment, then continued. "I feel I should tell you that I contacted HQ and confirmed that replicants of humans could be sentient. They were interested in that information."

"You idiot." Samus snapped, without even thinking. "There was no reason to tell them about that. If they even _think_ they could actually use these things as weapons like the Pirates did with Metroids..." She cut off, remembering who she was talking to. _Outmaneuvered again. I _thought_ I heard something else going on while I was out of it down there._

"I was ordered to act in the Federation's interests, Samus." Adam reminded her. "However, if you wish, I will refrain from informing them about your own effects on absorbing a sentient X."

"I'd appreciate that." Samus slowly nodded. _If you're not balls-out lying about it._ After a moment, she frowned. "Something else is getting to you. Spill."

"Ah-that is true." Adam said, sounding surprised. "Why did the X attempt such a suicidal course of action? Not only would it destroy all the other X on this station, the SA-X would have perished as well. It makes no sense."

"Not to you or me, but I got a look at how their brains work when I talked to that replicant, and it wasn't pleasant." Samus shook her head. "As near as I could understand it, they figured out I'm the last Metroid, and decided it would be worth losing them to get rid of me. He bluffed a lot, but I could tell; they're afraid of me getting back up to full, and that the SA-X hasn't been able to nail me yet. Is it in this Sector?"

"At the moment, yes. Searching for you." Adam confirmed. "I assume you took the long way around intentionally, planning for that. So they consider your existence a threat to all X, everywhere. Odd, considering the X have spread too fast for us to contain, on this station alone. Perhaps they are paranoid about the possibility of other Metroid Fusions, should you prove successful in countering them."

"Now _that's_ a level of thought I hadn't considered, and I don't like it." Samus slowly nodded, eyes narrowed to slits. "If they can think on that grand a scale, they're probably already making plans for expanding to other planets. This is a problem, Mac."

"Yes. Slightly more problematic than, say, a Space Pirate raid on Optimus. We can't let our guards down for a moment. The X are a very serious threat." Adam agreed. "But there are other issues. I've finally persuaded the station's computer to allow me some access to the Habitation Deck, and I've detected life signs uncontaminated by X. Either crewmembers who managed to escape, or the sentients in captivity I mentioned to you earlier. The access hasn't included cameras, so I don't know which, but either way, it bears investigation."

"True. I found out something." Samus shuddered at that before continuing. "Gori-the scientist-actually managed to get away from the SA-X at first, and hide out in this Sector for a while before they found and killed him. It's possible some other crew are hiding up there."

"Indeed. A chance exists." Adam brought up the map of the upper level. "What will you with them?"

"Probably bring them back to the ship." Samus admitted after a moment. "It's the only place they'd actually be safe, and I'm not going to just leave them to get killed by the X. But keep an eye on them. If they try to do anything stupid like take the _Matrix_ out of there, go ahead and stun them, or whatever."

"Understood. I will see you there, then, Samus." Adam agreed. "You may want to hurry, by the way; the SA-X seems to be heading back here. The choice, of course, is entirely up to you."

"Shit." Samus turned and ran towards the elevator. "Never a damn dull moment."

The Main Deck was as empty as she remembered; there were still a few Hornoads and slime zombies shuffling around, and more disgusting barrier growths, but nothing of real danger. The Habitation Deck was located across from the Navigation Deck, and was the work of only a few minutes to reach. Inside were three levels of simple, glass-fronted terrariums, similar to zoos. The multiple computer-controlled gates and doors filling the entire sector, however, were a different story. Approaching the lowest level, Samus glanced at a metal plate.

"Sentient Terrarium A: Space Pirates. Zebesians and KiHunters." She shook her head. "Not here. The X got these ones. Reminds me, though; I still need to find out how they managed that." After some more work, she made it up another level. "Sentient Terrarium B: Yakuza." She whistled. "Those guys run a smaller operation than the Pirates over here. More and more suspicious." She squinted at a note below the plate. "Eventual location for Specimen RLY, currently in cold storage? _That's_ weird." Investigation found the terrarium to be empty, however, and she continued upward.

It was in the top level that she hit pay dirt. Looking through the glass, she saw shockingly familiar lifeforms; three blue-furred bipeds, short and cute, with big ears and vestigial antennae. Stalking calmly along them was a large land bird, with green feathers and a mohawk. Samus' eyes widened. "Etecoons and a Dachura? Damn, what are the odds."

"Eh?" One of the former, hanging from a tire swing, suddenly began pointing at her and jabbering, attracting the attention of the others. "Samus! Samus! Samus!" The Etecoon yipped.

"What..." Samus took a step back. "No _fucking_ way." Accessing the terrarium's controls, she opened the door, and the three Etecoons immediately tackled her, hugging her with as much strength as their knee-high bodies could muster.

"Samus! Samus! Samus!" All three chirped in unison.

"Sa, Ji, and Ni? What are you guys doing here?" Samus shook her head incredulously, than looked over to the Dacura, who had followed them out in a more restrained manner. "Falar too?"

_"Fo kooz ylyet, _Samus Aran. _Ytb ylyet uia pydo ap._" Falar spoke in Mydiene, her and the Etecoons' native tongue.

"Hold on, hold on, let me get my translator on." Samus fiddled with her visor for a moment, then nodded before responding in the same language. "There. Had this translator installed after the last time we met. Is it working?"

"Yeah!" Sa looked up at her, wide-eyed. "Now we can talk to each other. Good thinking, Samus." He backed off, and after a moment, the other two did as well, though they were still smiling. "What are you doing here?"

"My job. I think what's more important is what you guys are." Samus smiled back, genuinely pleased for once. The four Far Siders had been help captive by the Pirate Lords Kraid and Draygon on Zebes, and Samus had helped them escape. In return, the Etecoons had taught her what could only be described as a martial art technique involving rebounding off of walls using only one's own intertia. Falar had done even more, showing her how to use her Speed Booster to replicate the Shinespark energy the Dachurai could use to achieve mind-boggling speeds. "Last time I saw you, you made it off Zebes in your ship right before it went nova."

"Unfortunately, things did not go as planned." Falar replied. "When we reached your people's 'wall' between us and our homeworlds, they took us captive and brought us here. We were stuck in this cell without even an attempt to communicate." Her bright pink eyes narrowed. "The humans here haven't been by in some time, however. I assume you know what befell them."

"That's what I'm here for." Samus slowly nodded. "I'll make it short for now. Do you all know what a Metroid is?"

The four Far Siders all made various noises of disgust and revulsion in response.

"I suppose I should take that as a yes." She remarked to nobody in particular. "Something from the same planet as them, and just as bad, has gotten loose on this station. They've killed everything here except for us, and if I leave you guys here, it'll get you too. Under the circumstances, how would you feel about hiding out on my ship? They won't be able to get you there, most likely."

"Wow! Your ship? Is it a cool one?" Ji asked, climbing onto Ni's head.

"I bet it is!" Ni grinned, not bothered by that. "Samus has to have a cool ship! Samus is cool, right?"

"Yeah, Samus is always cool!" Ji agreed, falling off.

"Eheh." Samus remembered the interior design, and shuddered. "Something like that."

"I'm with my brothers." Sa nodded, smiling. "We're in, Samus."

"We will accept your offer as well. Thank you." Falar turned her head around, and chirped. The grass in the terrarium emerged, and a second Dachura emerged, smaller than the Etecoons. Running over to its mother's knee, it stared at Samus.

"Your egg hatched." Samus said, her smile growing. "Wow. Man, I'm glad I found you guys in time. Come on, let's get moving. If you see anything move, stay away until I've killed it."

"Infectious?" Falar guessed shrewdly, following her from several feet with her chick sticking to her side. The Etecoons were scampering along at a more hopskip pace, heads swiveling around curiously to take in as much as possible.

"Worse. Parasites." Samus explained. "They infest with a touch, and it's pretty much fatal. You'd die before I could get you to the hospital, even if I could talk the Feds into giving you guys the same treatment they did me."

"Oh, I just hate it when that happens." Ji muttered absently. "Hey, what's that?"

"That's a water cooler." Samus said calmly. "I'll get you one next christmas."

"What's _that?_" Ni asked in turn.

"Guys, we can ask questions later." Sa told them patiently. "When we're on Samus' ship." The infant Dachura glanced at him.

"Oh yeah, Samus' ship!" Ji remembered, and the chick's gaze transferred to him. "Is it close?"

"Pretty-whoa, slime zombie!" Samus yelled, and they fell back quickly. Killing it, she motioned them onwards.

"What was _that?_" Falar murmured in the same tone as the Etecoons.

"Ugly." Samus replied, unable to tell if she was trying to be funny or not. "It's the leftovers if one of those things gets a human. Anyways, one more thing you guys should know. The computer on my ship works for the Federation. It's been ordered to support me while I'm here, so it shouldn't actually hurt you, but watch what you say."

"Sounds like you've been wondering about them yourself." Sa noted. "We'll be careful."

"Good." Samus nodded. "All right, here we are." She opened the hatch to the docking bay, and they all ran up to the ship.

"Whoa! Cool!" Ni stared up at it. "How do we board?"

"Just stand under it." Samus demonstrated the nullgrav elevator, and the others followed her. "Well, welcome aboard. It's not much, but I call it home."

"An... interesting color scheme." Falar said, making a clipped chirping sound that was probably laughter. "When you said the computer was provided by your Federation..."

"Yeah, this ship as well." Samus admitted, making a rude noise. "Haven't had time to get this fixed yet."

"What's wrong with it?" Sa asked, as the three of them began exploring the galley nook. "It's funny!"

"True. Try not to break anything, guys." Samus said with a tolerant smile, then gazed skyward. "Surprise, Servo. I ran into some old friends."

"So I see, Captain." Adam replied after a moment. "The Etecoons and Dachura mentioned in your report on the second Zebes infiltration, I assume."

"Yeah." Samus narrowed her eyes and exchanged a glance with Falar and Sa, but didn't say anything on the matter there. "They'll be staying here until we leave. Bad news is, I don't have any crew berthing at the moment. If you're not too picky, there should be enough stuff in a closet or something to make do. The computer here can tell you how to work the galley. Is the kid going to need anything?"

"We will manage." Falar assured her. "Don't worry about us. Concentrate on your job." Lowering her head, she regarded the chick. "Be calm, Samus. We are safe now, thanks to our friend."

"What do you-" Samus began to ask, then stopped, realizing. She looked down at the Dachura chick, who was watching her with wide pink eyes, and had to take several moments to gather herself before speaking again. "Why?"

"I wanted to wait until we were here to tell you." Falar said, somehow managing to smile with her beak. "Your reaction was very nice, by the way." She turned and began to walk off, and after a moment, the chick followed her.

"No, why did you do it?" Samus called after her. "Why'd you name your kid after me?"

"You saved our lives. Twice." Falar answered without turning or halting. "Isn't that enough?"

"Huh." Samus watched them go, then looked over at the Etecoons, who were currently fencing with spoons. Shaking her head, she turned and went into the cockpit, slouching into the chair.

"Is something troubling you, Captain?" Adam asked after a few minutes.

"Why are you-oh yeah." Samus replied, remembering her instructions. "They're not crew. Just visitors. Once we're done here, I'll drop them off wherever they'd like." She waited for a moment before continuing. "People shouldn't be grateful to me. Not like that. It makes things confusing."

"I fail to see how." Adam said. "Why would gratitude be considered a negative?"

"Because I don't want it." Samus sighed heavily. "I'm not a fucking hero, okay? I hate it when people call me that. I only do these things because I like the work, and it pays well. That's all. Saving the galaxy is just an incidental. Saving people's lives, moreso. It's not like I'm very good at that part, anyways. Nine people out of ten who try to help me out in the field end up dead before the job's done." She thought of Matrix for a moment, then forced herself away from that. "My only friend is my bartender. I've got a few... allies, I guess. But they're not friends. I work solo, and I like it that way."

"You have always concentrated on making sure that point is well understood by the Federation, yes." Adam agreed. "And they have always regarded you as such. Even Commander Todar has always understood that your connection with the Federation was merely business, instead of suggesting that you were unduly altruistic."

"Heh. That's the nice thing about Todar. He'd eat his gun-literally-before he'd ever call me anything positive." Samus chuckled at that thought for a moment. "I just wanted to get that out. No heroes. Not the way I work. Not the way I ever will. Just do the job, collect the paycheck. Yeah, okay." She sat up straight. "Enough amateur self-psychology. Let's get back to work."

"Very well. We can now confirm the deaths of all crewmembers." Adam said calmly. "Unfortunate. I imagined that this was the case, but hoped for the best. Although I also hope for an end to clan wars on Planet Evir, so."

"What did I tell you about optimism?" Samus snorted. "About that, though. Time to play 'if I can trust you as far as I can throw you, how far can I throw you?' again. The guys were nailed after they escaped from Zebes, at the Wall. Got shipped here. We've already established that this is the undercover lab for the Feds. So, computer, you tell me. Why did the Federation nab them?"

"There are several possibilities." Adam replied after a moment. "One is that the Federation was suspicious of your report, and suspected them of having Pirate connections. Another is that they wished to have citizens of planets Dachu and Tecoo, to persuade those planets to join the Federation. A third, that incompetence led to them being detained as illegals without connecting them to your report. And fourth." He waited a moment more before continuing reluctantly. "The Federation may have eventually intended to gather additional information on Zebes and yourself from them. By force, if necessary."

"So whoever ordered this was either dumb as fuck, or dirtier than." Samus summed up coldly. _Huh. Surprised he fessed up to that last one._ "Let's hope it was A or C, but I'm not holding my breath on that one." She shook her head. "Whichever it was, I'll be having words with the Feds, but that's later. Right now, what should I do next? I still feel like putting in a couple more hours before sacking out again."

"With all six Sectors now available to them, the X have a very wide range of creatures to assimilate." Adam reasoned. "They will likely evolve further, and grow stronger."

"Yeah. I've seen them actually modify creatures by doubling up." Samus made a face. "You're probably right. I assume you have an idea as to what to do about it?"

"Indeed. The ARM Division has recently completed their efforts to transfer Power Bombs into data form." Adam explained. "Fortunately, the Data Room in Sector 5 remains undestroyed."

"It'll probably be a trap, but I've got to take that risk." Samus decided grimly. "I'm going to need those suckers. As long as we're talking about Sector 5, anything you can tell me about that one's Frankenstein job?"

"Not at the moment, but I will query the Federation." Adam promised.

"I suppose that's the best I can hope for." Samus admitted. "All right, I'm off." Leaving the engine room, she found the Etecoons examining the coffee pot. "Hey, be careful with that thing. I'm going back out. Stay here and be careful, okay?"

"We will." Sa assured her solemnly. "You as well, Samus."

"Being careful doesn't pay the bills, I'm afraid." Samus chuckled as she left. "But I'll try, all the same."

* * *

Sector 5 was unchanged; whatever was behind the wall still made Samus nervous as it banged around, and the same creatures as before moved against her. Finding the Data Room was easy, and she downloaded the Power Bomb data without much fuss. Almost as soon as she had received it, Welhaam's device sprang to life once more.

"Adam, my friend. How are things proceeding on the station?" Renpou inquired.

"Sir. A discovery was made of which I was unaware." Adam replied, oddly cold. "You didn't tell me that the Dachurai and Etecoons onboard were the allies of Samus Aran from Zebes."

"I didn't think it would be an issue. Are you telling me they actually survived?" Renpou asked after a moment. "Now that's strange. I assume Samus rescued them?"

"Protesting her mercenary nature the entire time." Adam actually laughed a little, and Samus narrowed her eyes. "Even now, she still refuses to admit it to herself."

"Well, it's her call, really." Renpou said. "At any rate, those critters won't be a problem. Gori and his men were instructed not to talk to them until the program was ready to be implemented, and of course the X infestation scratched that before they could even start. It's for the best; this is really a much better plan than Mark's original use for this station. Nice boy, but terribly unimaginative."

"I remember that as well, sir." Adam replied. "So then, the Etecoons and Dachurai are useless to us?"

"That's correct. Go ahead and let Samus do what she wants with them." Renpou agreed. "Are there any other issues?"

"Ah, no." Adam replied after a moment. "None since my last call."

_Well, hot damn._ Samus thought. _He's actually not telling the old freak. Now what?_

"Adam, my boy." Renpou said quietly. "Come on, now. You know better than to try and lie to me. I can tell, you know. You're not getting too attached to her, are you? Not considering your loyalties? Bad idea. You remember why."

"I had forgotten, actually." Adam's voice grew grim. "Thank you for the reminder, sir. Actually, I simply thought it to be not worth mentioning. The X replicated the lead scientist on this station, Gori. It seems when Samus absorbed that X, she received some of his memories as well. I'm not sure how far back they go, but it's certainly possible she may have learned something we'd prefer her not to have."

_Knew it was too good to be true._ Samus shook her head in resignation. _Too bad I didn't actually learn anything like that. Still, I can use that suspicion of his to bluff, anyways. All I know is Renpou was involved here, but it's worth a shot._

"Absorbed his memories, you say." Renpou replied after a moment, sounding not at all worried. "My, my. How fascinating. Well, it's rather simple, my boy. Convince her to trust you enough to share anything she may have learned."

"And would you like me to tow SR-388 into Federation space after that?" Adam said sourly. "Sir, she knows I'm loyal to you before her. She trusts me exactly as much as she needs to, and not a hair more. I can't say I blame her, either."

"Now, now. Don't go saying things like that to anybody else but me, hmm? Mark, for example, might not take that sort of comment the right way." Renpou reprimanded him jovially. "I get your point, though. So make it easier for her to trust her. Just don't spill what Mark had planned originally; she'd be able to figure out our current plans from there."

"All right, I'll reveal some secrets." Adam agreed. "And I'll call you back when I have more to tell you."

"Good man. Farewell, then." Renpou said, and the connection died.

"Deeper and deeper. Well, I'll get more info at least-what the hell is this?" Samus demanded, glaring at the hatch in front of her. It had been blown up, rendered unusable. A moment later, her brain moved away from the conversation to realization. "The SA-X! It _was_ a trap." She whirled around, scanning the hall behind her frantically, but saw no enemy, heard no footsteps. After a moment, she went back the way she had come, searching for another way out.

Eventually, a Galdezium floor provided what she was looking for. Setting one of her Power Bombs, Samus watched as the wave of bright white energy emerged from the tiny sphere, blowing the floor apart with staggering power. Fortunately, her Suit was immune to the energy; another part of Chozo technology that mystified her. Only after she dropped through into the ventilation shaft below did she consider the possibility that her immunity could possibly have been stripped away with the exterior shell. _Shit, I've got to be more careful._ Hitting herself on the head, Samus moved on.

A moment later, Samus heard metal footsteps, and froze, but only for a moment. Before her, a metal screen rose over all but the top foot of the shaft. Before the enemy could drop down, Samus forced herself up and over it, then crouched on the other side, heart beating furiously. The footsteps grew louder, slowly approaching. _It doesn't actually know I'm in here,_ Samus realized. _It's just checking._ Desperately, she forced herself into Morph Ball mode and rolled over into a patch of shadow.

The SA-X's head appeared over the rise a moment later, empty white eyes scanning for her. After a few moments, it muttered something inaudible and dropped back again, beginning to walk away.

_Phew._ Only then did Samus breath again. _I could actually move this time. I'm still terrified of that thing, but I'm getting better._ Slowly uncurling, she glanced at the back wall of the shaft, and sighed; there was a screen behind the rise. Once the footsteps had fallen silent, she dropped a bomb, then realized in horror that she had _not_ heard the hatch above the shaft opening again. The moment the bomb opened a hole, she was through it. Behind her, at the same moment, the footsteps started up once more, at a much faster rate.

_Damn, damn, damn!_ Ignoring them, Samus jumped out of Morph Ball form, and ran for the end of the shaft. A beam slammed home between her shoulder blades, and she staggered, but kept running. _Good thing it wasn't a Missile._ On cue, she heard one being fired, and jumped, watching it pass under her. Another beam took her in midair, and she fell forward. As she picked herself up, she saw more Galdezium above, and shifted to Morph Ball and back in half a second to drop a Power Bomb. Turning around, she sighted down the hole in the screen, which the SA-X was climbing through itself.

"All right, freak. Draw." Samus snarled with bravado, firing a Super. The SA-X followed suit. Gamely, Samus stood her ground, and the SA-X followed suit, narrowing its eyes. The Super blew her backwards, head over heels, and left her feeling like she had been hit by a car; a deep breath left her wincing, signaling cracked ribs. The SA-X, however, was frozen to the spot by the icy payload. Rising, Samus climbed up out of the shaft, and ran onwards.

There was no further sign of pursuit, even though the ice couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds; the SA-X had no inherent weakness to low temperatures. All the same, Samus laid in a hiding spot she had located for a great deal of time before rising and wearily making her way back out of the Sector. Absorbing X slowly repaired the damage done by the brief altercation, but it took a great deal of time. She had picked up Energy Tanks around the Station, along with Missile; that had been all that had ensured her survival. The beam shots had drained a full Tank each, and the Super four of them.

All in all, Samus was more than ready to call it quits for the day when she finally made her way into the Navigation Room at the entrance to the Sector. "All right, compy. I'm coming back."

"Please do, Samus. I have important information for you." Adam agreed.

"Right." Samus fought down an irritated response to that and rode the elevator up, then another to the Main Deck. At least, that was the plan. Halfway up the second elevator, the lift suddenly ground to a halt and died. At the same time, the lights flickered and disappeared as well. "Oh, you have got to be _fucking_ kidding me." Growling, Samus turned her headlamp on, and located another ventilation shaft in the side of the elevator passage. This one, she simply blasted her way into and along, disposing of crawling, spined Geemers that were infesting it with more muttered oaths.

On the other side of it, she frowned; looking through the slots, she saw an ice-filled room. "This isn't Sector 5-wait. Habitation deck said there was a Specimen RLY in cold storage. This must be it." After a moment's thought, she blew her way in and approached what looked like an ice statue. When she neared it, she realized its species, and whistled. "Whoa. A Drakar."

Drakar were one of the most physically formidable intelligent species in the Federation. Bony, winged reptiles, they had been described by earth scholars as half pterodactyl and half dragon, whatever the hell either of those were supposed to be. All Samus knew was that they were best not crossed; their culture was based around combat and warfare, and most of them were proud warriors. They were nominally Federation members, but fiercely independent even from their own planetary government.

Of the species, Samus had known two on a more than casual basis in her life. Gelltor, one of her allies in their anti-Federation plans, was scrawny and undersized compared to most, which was doubtless why he had turned to independent crime as a career. The other was Ridley, the greatest warrior in the Space Pirates, whom she had fought six times now, with five wins, four of them resulting in his death. The Pirate Lord was her personal pain in the ass, and it was likely a matter of time before he came back to annoy her once more.

"Man, they weren't kidding about keeping this one under wraps. If Planet Drak finds out..." Samus muttered, examining the frozen specimen closer. Her eyes widened, and her breath stopped. The Drakar's chest was covered with a massive network of scar tissue that was all too familiar to her. She had caused each and every one of them. Searching further, she found more scars from ill-advised cybernetic implants he had tried before eventually discarding to return to his own natural strength. The palm-fangs grew, and she didn't bother trying to keep them in.

"Holy fucking shit." Samus whispered, with equal parts astonishment and rage. "_Ridley. _How the fuck-" She paused, thinking back. "Gelltor said the Feds nailed a Space Pirate cruiser. _Heart of __Norfair._ He must have been onboard. That's where they got the Zebesians and KiHunters too. Why didn't I think of that, earlier? I must be getting old." Shaking her head, she stared up at the frozen Pirate, wondering what the hell she was supposed to do about this.

As she watched, Ridley suddenly twitched. Before Samus could freak out, however, the twitch resolved itself into a bright red Core-X, emerging from Ridley's body. It didn't even look at her before flying away, and by the time Samus put her thoughts back together, it was gone. A moment later, Ridley collapsed, head and limbs falling off and hitting the floor in a jumbled heap. A sigh of air slid out from the mess, and then it was still.

"So. That's the end of it, huh." Samus said after a few more silent moments. "Just like that. Never again." The last time they had fought, it had been in a cavern above Zebes' molten core itself, and upon his loss, Ridley had intended to pull her in, both of them dying permanently. For reasons she still didn't understand, Samus had not only escaped his grasp, but shoved him back onto land to die. Despite everything, she had never actually been able to completely hate the greatest Pirate Lord, not the same way she had Mother Brain, or his contemporaries.

"You said we were both warriors, you bastard." She said to the corpse, finally realizing it. "You were right. That's why I wanted you to come back again. So I could fight you again. I'd risk everything in the galaxy just for the cheap thrill of my blood boiling in combat. You knew it all along, while I was denying it. And yet, you finally ship out like this, without even being able to raise a claw, while I'm still going at it tooth and nail." She shook her head in irritation. "If it helps, I'll ream the fucking Feds out big time for this one."

Ridley's corpse made no response, as she she squatted down next to it. Slowly, tentatively, she reached out her arm, and laid her hand on his head. "Well. Guess this it it, then." Closing her eyes, she tried to sort through her thoughts, and failed. "Fine. But save me a seat in Hell, if there's a bar, you asshole. I'll be along eventually, and when I do, maybe I'll even buy you a beer before we go back to breaking each others' faces again." She didn't even feel it when the palm-fangs came out, digging into the frozen flesh. When something flowed up them, through her arm, however, her eyes flew wide open.

"What the _fuck?_" She muttered, pulling her hand off and staring at it.

_**What the fuck?**_It echoed in her head a moment later.

"Huh?" Samus blinked, but the echo didn't reappear. "Okay. That was just freaky." She waited a few minutes more, then shook her head and climbed back into the shaft, and down below the freezer. The giant lizards with acid drool blocking the way back to her ship were mildly unpleasant, and didn't help her exhaustion at all. When she barged her way back in, it took her several moments to figure out what was wrong. Nobody else was in the common room.

"Hey, Mike the TV." She called upwards. "Where are the guys?"

"The Etecoons and Dachurai are sleeping in cargo bay 1, Samus." Adam informed her. "They all remain in excellent health."

_**Damn. This is the ugliest ship I've ever seen.**_ The thought went through her mind, unbidden.

"Huh." Samus blinked, then shrugged; she hadn't actually thought about it in a couple days, but it was still very true. "Maybe having company's making me pissy. Well, whatever." She slouched onto an acceleration couch. _Time for the next round._ "All right, computer. Get anything interesting out of the Feds?"

"Indeed." Adam replied smoothly. "First, as to your specific queries. The Federation saw the logic in explaining further on the biological creations. Sector 5's, perhaps predictably, is by far the most dangerous. I suppose it is nice to know that ahead of time, as it keeps unpleasant surprises to a minimum."

"And that's why cynicism is healthy in this career." Samus agreed, chuckling for a moment. "Spill, then. What is it?"

"A bio-mechanical creation labeled the Nightmare." Adam explained. "Meant for military purposes, its main weapon is an ability to warp gravity. In addition, it has personal nullgravs allowing it permanent aerial movement in all directions, and is roughly the size of this ship."

"Sounds like a real blast, all right." Samus rolled her eyes. "What about the others?"

"You already know of the security robots in Sector 3. Sector 6, then, is home to the D-Rex, a symbiotic lifeform with two seperate bodies, one mechanical and one biological. In Sector 4, we have the Rangda Bangda, a 'living room' meant for security purposes once testing was completed. In Sector 2, there is the Nettori, a plant capable of massive, rapid growth and interference with mechanical devices. And in Sector 1, the creation is the Bospider, a remotely controlled cyborg version of the Yakuza specimen on station. Created through cloning."

_**The Federation's finally got cloning down, huh?**_ A surprised response flickered through Samus' mind. _**Damn. Even Kraid could never get that one straight.**_

"Cloning. Huh. Yeah, I saw the place where the Yakuza was supposed to be. X must have gotten it. I'm not looking forward to that one." Samus admitted. "I've nailed a couple of them for bounties, and it wasn't pleasant. Tough customers."

"Worrisome, indeed. I've been attempting to locate a replicant of that particular lifeform, but to no avail so far." Adam said. "That was not all, however. Repeated persistence in inquiring about the source of the Space Pirates finally paid off."

"That a fact?" Samus raised an eyebrow. _Nice try, but I've already figured that one out. My ball._ "I appreciate that, Servo. Maybe you'll earn your keep after all. Spill."

"Somehow, the concept of deletion is extremely motivating to me. I am presently unsure as to why." Adam replied dryly. "At any rate, the Federation recently attacked a Space Pirate cruiser, _Heart of Norfair._ At Commander Todar's directives, they took the Pirates alive."

"Todar. Great." Samus shook her head. _That's right, they said he was the one who cooked up whatever was originally going on there. Well then, let's try this._ "That was all they got from there, huh? Well, it could have been worse."

"Ah." Adam remained silent for a moment before speaking again. "Actually, there was one other specimen. A corpse, that is currently in cold storage. That of the Pirate Lord Ridley."

"Well. Fuck." Samus kept her voice level. "Thanks for letting me know, but still. Fuck. If the X get that boy, I'm in trouble."

"I agree, Samus." Adam said. "And, unfortunately, the Federation response team is still several standard days away."

"Life sucks and then you die. I'll cope." Samus stretched her legs. "Moving on. The elevator crapped out on me, and it looks like all the lights are down too. What gives, and can I fix it? There's not much else I can do here otherwise."

"The main silo of the reactor core has gone offline." Adam brought up a map of the Main Deck, showing her a map and indicating a spot that, unsurprisingly, was not on it. "That's why all elevators and non-essential systems are down, and even the essentials are fading. This does not bode well. Even the hatches will no longer function. There's an auxiliary power system here, though; if you can get to that point, you may be able to start it up."

"Then figure out why the big one went down once I can actually move around, huh? Yeah, I like that line of thought." Samus agreed. "I'll get to that after I catch some Zs. Ran into the damn SA-X, and barely made it out in one piece. Not exactly my idea of a good time."

"I imagine not, no." Adam replied after a moment. "Thanks for letting me know, but still."

"Oh, very funny. Har har har." Samus rolled her eyes, but smiled. "All right. The guys are doing fine, then? Still can't figure out what they're doing here."

"They remain fine, and seem grateful to you." Adam reported. "I agree; their presence in the midst of this disaster must have some significance."

"Yeah." Samus gloated inwardly, but kept her face calm. _Shouldn't have left that opening, computer._ "Them, the Pirates and Ridley, the Zebes recreation. All of it's connected, I'm sure. I'll tell you what, computer. You've been doing better than I expected in helping me out, even with stuff you didn't have to. I'll make you a deal. Find some way, I don't care what, of figuring out what the hell they were up to here before the X invaded, and I'll keep you around after this mission's done."

"I can see the logic behind your proposal, Samus." Adam said after several moments of silence. "I'll do my best."

"You do that." Samus stood. _Shame I'll be sleeping, but I couldn't pass that up. "_Meanwhile, I'm going to crash. See you when I wake up."

"Did you wish to contact Mister Horzat once more?" Adam asked politely. "As I recall, he was searching for related information."

"Huh? Nah." Samus replied quickly. "He's my bartender, not my dad, clankcase. I'll call him later."

"Very well. Good night, Samus." Adam said.

"Yeah, yeah." Samus paused before entering her quarters and cracked open the door to cargo bay 1. The Etecoons were piled in a heap like puppies on one cot, and Falar was curled up on another, with little Samus by her side. Samus stared at the tiny Dachura for a moment, then shook her head and closed the door. Without another word, she tossed herself onto her own bed.

_**Well, at least it's interesting,**_ her mind told her before she dozed off. _**Beats boredom any day.**_And despite still feeling odd about the way the thought had presented herself, she couldn't deny the sentiment.


	8. Chapter 7: Brain Scratch

_**Chapter 7: Brain Scratch**_

It took a special kind of person to appreciate Norfair. The deepest of Zebes' mostly subterranean territories, it resembled an oven the size of a country, the entire network of caverns blazing hot at all times. Even those which didn't actually contain molten lava were still uncomfortable. The denizens had all adapted to the fires, and in some cases even taken them into themselves, as a means of survival. Even the few examples of plant life capable of living in Norfair were dangerous.

As a result, Samus Aran's mood was far from happy as she sneaked through the caverns quietly and carefully. When she was older, she would be confident enough to come through heedlessly like the wrath of some ancient god, but on her first expedition, she was more careful about avoiding Space Pirate detection whenever possible. Finding a safe spot, she paused for a moment to take a breather and examine her map.

"Almost there." She muttered to herself. "Horzat said Ridley's chambers would be right through here. Time for the hard part." She had already eliminated her first target, the Pirate Lord Kraid. Actually finding the mad scientist had been more difficult than killing him; a clone of Kraid had almost fooled her, and it had only been chance that had revealed the actual Pirate Lord's survival. Ridley, on the other hand, was the Space Pirates' greatest warrior, and besting him in combat would be an extremely difficult proposition.

"Normal Drakars are bad enough." Samus remembered the first time she had tried to bring one in and winced. "This guy'll probably make them look like amateurs."

"You talking about Ridley?" A deep, dark voice whispered, and Samus jumped.

"Who's there?" She growled back, looking around wildly.

"Somebody who's interested in you." The voice replied, echoing around the chamber. "If you want to take Ridley down, I know how to do it."

"Really." Samus replied calmly, now carefully peeking around boulders in the chamber. "How's that go, then?"

"Ridley's only weakness..." The voice paused dramatically. "Is _drama._ He's a total showoff, and can't resist playing anything all the way to the end of the line. Personally, I think it's his ego."

"I guess that makes enough sense." Samus' eyes narrowed. There was only one boulder unchecked that was large enough to hide the speaker, if her thoughts were correct. Curling into her Morph Ball, she dropped a Bomb and uncurled instantly, then grabbed the tiny sphere and lobbed it over the boulder.

"_Yeow!_" The speaker yelped as the bomb went off. A moment later, a massive Drakar the size of a hovercar loomed up, perching on the boulder like a gargoyle. "That's harsh, lady. You didn't even give me the chance to make my entrance." He grinned wickedly, but made no move to attack just yet.

"That was the idea." Samus replied calmly, keeping her blaster trained on him. "Sorry. I can't stand drama, myself."

"Really? Well, that's a shame." Ridley shook his head. "And here I figured we'd have a lot in common. Samus Aran, right? You've got a pretty hot rep for a new kid in the business."

"My reputation precedes me. I like that." Samus admitted. "You figure things out fast. I've only been here a couple days."

"Probably wouldn't have if you'd come for me first, but killing my buddy Kraid was kind of a tipoff." Ridley shrugged expansively, his wings stretching. "That kind of thing does tend to make people pay attention to you around here. Kraid wasn't exactly, well, _me_, but he wasn't a pushover either."

"Pretty good for a pencil neck, I'll give him that." Samus nodded slowly. "You're not pissed off because I waxed your friend?"

"Nah. He'll get better." Ridley made a face. "Figures Draygon and Phantoon'd be off-planet right now, though. If you'd bumped one of _them_ off, I'd have thrown you a goddamn party. The sooner those two vacate their positions, the better. Almost a shame you won't be able to go after them now... unless..." His blazing golden eyes glittered. "You're a bounty hunter, not a Federation employee. What do you think of the Feds?"

"Not exactly a fan, but they keep the peace." Samus answered after a moment. "And more importantly, they pay my bills. That's all I really ask of them."

"Right, right. But there are alternatives, you know." Ridley's grin widened, a million deadly fangs interlocked. "If Draygon or Phantoon were to have an _accident_ that made their resurrection impossible, somebody else could become a Pirate Lord in their place. Those two both got tickets right to the top for joining up, so Mom could be talked into repeating the procedure with an even more promising newcomer. She'd probably appreciate having another girl around the round table to balance out all the testosterone, too."

"Are you seriously trying to recruit me?" Samus asked after a moment of dumbstruck silence. "I come in here, rampage through your home turf, kill off your friend, find you to do the same. And you give me a fucking _job offer_?"

"What can I say? I like talent when I see it." Ridley spread his claws. "And sister, you've got it. Come on, you can't tell me you're up to your eyes in morality. I know enough about your career to know that would be bullshit. It's a great gig, especially now that we've got the Metroids. Once we get those babies down to an art, we'll finally be able to get the edge over the Feds. Just think about it for a moment. Why not?"

"Two reasons, I'm afraid." Samus smiled a little. "I'm a free woman, and I like it that way. I don't take orders from anybody, and I'm never going to. Of course, if that was the only reason, we'd still probably be able to work something out. But there's something else you wouldn't be able to figure out from looking into my career."

"Oh?" Ridley leaned forward. "What's that, then?"

"The Space Pirates killed my parents." Samus dropped the smile. "I was four at the time."

A moment passed, then another. Finally, Ridley sighed deeply. "Fair enough. I can understand that. A damn shame, but I get it." He stretched his claws out before him, still grinning. "All right, then. Only one way this can go now, and I'm still gonna enjoy it."

"You some kind of kill freak?" Samus raised an eyebrow. "I hate amateurs like that."

"Please. Murder alone holds no joy for me. I'd appreciate it if you didn't compare me to twits like that in the future." Ridley turned his head and spat derisively before staring back at her. "I am a warrior, Aran. The thrill of the fight is my greatest pleasure. Nothing's more fun in my eyes than the glory of combat, especially with a worthy opponent. Call it a species peculiarity. I don't know if it's cultural, biological, or both, but where I come from it's considered the high point of living."

"That's what I've gathered. Even a Drakar as fucked-up as you has that much in common with the rest of the planet, huh." Samus acknowledged. "Was wondering if you would. I get what you're saying, though. It is kind of a rush, isn't it? I'm with you when it comes to shits who just like killing. But when you actually have to work for it... now that's a different story."

"I thought that you might." Ridley said, golden eyes glowing. "You're strange for a human, Samus. If it wasn't biologically unlikely and disgusting to think about, I'd wonder if you had any Drakar blood in your heritage. As it is, I'm just wondering what exactly happened after you turned four to make you turn out this way."

"You're too sharp for your own good." Samus narrowed her eyes. "That's no business of a dead man. And thanks for that mental image, by the way. Look, are we going to just stand around chatting all day, or do you want to get to the good part?"

"Well, if you put it like _that_..." Ridley spread his wings. "Let's give everybody watching on Pay-Per-View a show worth seeing!" Screeching, he blasted into the air, and swooped down like a thunderbolt.

"Damn straight." Samus raised her cannon and fired without fear. "Hope you know how to go out with a bang, Ridley!"

* * *

_**Old times... seems like it's been forever since then.**_

For once, Samus didn't need her alarm; her eyes shot open of their own volition, several moments before it went off. Even so, she remained motionless in bed for several moments before rising.

"Seeing the scaly bastard like that must have touched off those memories." She muttered to herself as she headed out into the common room. To be fair, there was less chaos than she had expected; nothing had actually been broken by the curious Etecoons, simply strewn around. Falar and her chick were examining the food stores.

"Oh, hi, Samus." Sa greeted her; the three of them were cleaning out a jar of jam. "Uh, sorry about the mess. We'll clean it up, I promise."

"Appreciated." Samus winced. "I'm going back out, then."

"Very well." Falar nodded, then froze, her eyes widening as she came across a carton of eggs. Slowly, she turned to stare at Samus in horror.

"Oh, god." Samus covered her face with one hand. "Computer, explain what a chicken is to Falar, okay? I'm off." Leaving the ship, she walked off, muttering to herself.

With the power down, the solitude of the station was even more creepy, but it was still preferably to talking with Adam. For some reason, Samus was in absolutely no mood to play their little game of information control at the moment; her instincts were screaming at her to go find something hostile and kill it. Following the map, she quickly located a hidden passage to the reactor core and crawled through.

As soon as she entered, Samus found herself confronted with a human-sized, bipedal insect, both arms raised to slash at her face as it buzzed down out of the air. "KiHunters. About time they grew up." Diving out of the Space Pirate replicant's way, she fired up and fried it, then stood again and looked around. From a ledge at the top of the chamber, she could see the problem clearly; a yellow network of vines clogged most of the hotel-sized room. More importantly, though, a dozen more KiHunters were present as well, all eyes on her. Yelling gleefully, Samus charged.

Though the Pirate replicants were not apparently sentient, they were still intelligent enough to pose a challenge, which Samus accepted happily. For the moment, she simply stopped worrying about the tougher issues, and let herself focus on the matter at hand. Kill or be killed. The network of vines parted with a shot, and she jumped through them easily, closing in on lone KiHunters one at a time to dispose of them. By the time those giving chase had cleared the vines with their acidic spit, she was done and moving on to the next target.

When there were only a few aerial replicants remaining in a group, Samus rose to meet them. Fearlessly jumping through the group as she fired, she aimed downward at the apex of her leap and continued to attack. Hitting the ground amid a shower of scorched body parts, she shot behind her to nail the only survivor as it came for her and casually wiped the splatter off of her faceplate. "Well. That was fun." Smiling, she turned to examine the reactor core.

The yellow vines were already beginning to regenerate from the damage her and the KiHunters' weapons had done. As she watched, scorched ends simply shed the damaged matter and sprouted anew. "All right, there's no point in trying to clear this." She deducted. "The only way to fix this is to find where it came from. Gotta get the backup online first, though." Consulting her map, she located it, then frowned at the inactive hatches. "Good thing secret passages got thrown in this place like they were going out of style."

_**Hold it, wasn't there a hatch stuck open up near the top? Across from where I came in? Could have sworn I saw something like that.**_

"Huh." Glancing up, Samus saw that such was indeed the case. Something about the way the thought had ran through her mind still seemed off, but she ignored it and climbed up to the top of the room. Sure enough, the hatch opposite her entrance was jammed open by the remains of a Zero's cocoon, left there when it hatched into a KiHunter. On the other side, she found a network of catwalks leading down into towards the room which would contain her target. Zebesian replicants, just as numerous as the KiHunters had been turned to stare up at her.

"All right. Round two." Samus just grinned wider, dropping a Power Bomb. Although only one of the enemy was actually close enough to be destroyed by the blast, the light from it blinded the rest for a moment, and Samus hurled herself across the air to the opposite side of the room. Landing under one Zebesian and in front of another, she immediately shot the replicant latter, then fired a missile upward. The impact hurled the upper replicant forward, screeching, to fall to the bottom.

Enjoying herself immensely, Samus began sniping from her position, dodging and weaving the return fire easily. She managed to down three more across from her before beams started coming through the floor below her feet. Grabbing the rail, she swung down and kicked one Replicant in the face, then shot the other two before they could recover from their surprise. Dropping to the floor under the next salvo of blasts, she methodically snapped the stunned Pirate's neck before rolling up into the Morph Ball and flinging herself down the catwalk.

The advancing Pirates whirled as she shot past them, but to no avail; another Super killed one, and the impact knocked another two over the rail. The last stood his ground, firing fearlessly, and was shot down without ado. Smiling a little, Samus dropped ten feet onto the two who had fallen, and executed them calmly; the first one had died from the distance. Smiling a little, she locked eyes with the last remaining replicant, who charged, screaming. The result was obvious. Stepping over his smoking corpse, Samus saw the Eye Guardian awaiting her, and continued towards it.

"Now _that's_ what I'm talking about." She muttered to herself happily, destroying the oversized eye. Humming a little, she stepped through the hatch it covered, which was also jammed open-in this case, by some scattered tools. As soon as she was through, the floor fell out from beneath her, and she tumbled a good fifteen feet before landing. The power suit's shock protectors kept her from breaking anything, but it still winded her for a moment before she pulled herself up. "Can't believe I fell for that. All right, get out here, whatever you are!"

"Your request is acceptable." A low-pitched voice hissed from above her. Looking up, Samus saw blazing light and hurled herself to the side, as flames blasted down at her. The source of the attack was obvious; a huge arachnid, jet-black with a hideous, oversized head. Clinging to one wall, it glared down at Samus, then advanced, scuttling diagonally downward.

"The yakuza." Samus snarled, dodging it and firing. Her beam sizzled harmlessly against its carapace. Growling, she tried missiles, with a similar lack of effect. "You've got to be shitting me!"

"This lifeform was a great boon to us, indeed." The yakuza chuckled drily, continuing to clamber around oddly; its limbs could apparently only move it at an angle, making it easy to predict. "Hence why it was chosen for your execution here. The Samus Aran among the Kindred easily predicted your plan of action for us."

"Whoop-de-fucking-doo for it." Samus growled, looking the arachnid's body over. _Joints? Maybe... everything else is covered. Even eyelids. What-oh!_ Pausing above her, the replicant had opened a tusked and fanged maw, and the red glow of fire was emanating. Before it could spit the flaming substance again, Samus aimed and fired.

"Ahhh! Fool!" The yakuza shrieked, head reeling back. The fires flew wide, missing Samus entirely. "You only prolong the inevitable!"

"And _you_ apparently shop at Cliches-R-Us." Samus retorted, adding an Ice Super, which bounced off a fang as the replicant closed its jaw. "Tch. That's the problem with you X. No imagination, even when you're sentient. And you call me predictable."

"Imagination is unnecessary for the Kindred. We are already the most superior form of life in existence." The yakuza boasted, coming down for her again. "Only the abominations could pose a threat to us, and they were rightfully obliterated, leaving us free to expand. All life in this universe will join us, Samus Aran. It is only a matter of time."

"Yeah, I was afraid of that. Aw, no." Samus muttered. Distracted by its words, she had accidentally ran into a corner, and the replicant was coming for her. Seizing her in its foremost legs, the yakuza retreated further up the wall, dragging her with it. Stuck to her with some kind of natural adhesive, the legs holding her began pulling away, stretching her painfully further and further.

"You see? It is as I warned you." The replicant said, its green eyes glittering. "Despite all your struggles, you still perish!" Suddenly dropping, it slammed Samus into the floor, all of its weight bearing down on her. "Now you will-awk!"

"Big mouth." Samus said calmly, ignoring the pain wracking her body. "Bad idea." In the instant of the impact, the yakuza had dropped her, and she had taken advantage of its speech to shove her blaster into the maw. One, two, three, four missiles fired before the screaming beast backed away from her and onto the wall once more.

"Fine! Then I shall rip you apart, piece by piece!" The yakuza shrieked. Explosions suddenly wracked its body, and the legs fell off, leaving the limbless trunk to fall for a moment. Before it hit the ground, a gruesome hole opened itself in the replicant's rear, and a burst of flame flared, launching it spinning into the air.

"What the _fuck?_" Samus yelled, before being smashed into the ground by the gyrating remains. "Ow!"

_**Must be some kind of suicide move! **_Her mind realized. _**A normal one wouldn't do this unless it was already going to die, but these freaks don't even care!**_

"I hate X. I really, really do." Samus shook her head, firing an Ice Super, which was flung away harmlessly. _Can't nail the weak spots when it's spinning that fast!_ As soon as she had thought that, the answer presented itself. Passing above her, the yakuza righted itself for a moment, long enough to spew something dark and disgusting. Dodging it without bothering to look at it, Samus waited for the next attack, then fired in the instant that she could be assured of hitting her target.

"You still continue to fight back!" The replicant snarled, smashing Samus flat again. "You are illogical. Unworthy!"

"Do you ever shut up?" Samus wondered aloud, returned fire once more. Now that she knew how to hit it, she could focus on the bouncing, tracking where it would land and avoiding those spots. In less than half a minute, her efforts finally paid off, and the beast began shaking violently.

"What? What is this-GYAH!" Shrieking, the yakuza spasmed, jaw opening and closing wildly.

"Pain isn't natural to you X. You can't stop your fake bodies from reacting naturally, but you don't attach any further thought to it." Samus explained, watching the replicant writhe. "You don't even keep track of how wounded you are. You didn't even notice when you died. You're through."

"How..." The yakuza's voice trailed off, and it slammed into the ground, unmoving. When the Core-X appeared, Samus was ready for it, and shattered its shell without taking a hit.

_Just do it, girl,_ she thought to herself. _You need what it'll give you. Take it like a pro._ Steeling herself, she snatched the Core-X out of the air, then calmly walked over and sat down in a corner, waiting for the nightmares to come to her once more.

* * *

Fortunately, the yakuza's last memories weren't nearly as traumatic as Gori's had been; mostly, they involved simply being bored in its prison, until the X eventually came and infected it. When they ceased, Samus stood immediately and returned to her mission. A systems check cheered her up considerably; the Core-X had restored her Space Jump capabilities, allowing her to somehow defy the laws of gravity and inertia by making repeated leaps at the height of her previous ones. For all intents and purposes, a form of flight.

With that, it was easy to soar out of the trap pit and locate the auxiliary power generator. The rush of power returning to the station was audible, and the lights flickered back on instantly, to Samus' pleasure. The next room over contained a Navigation Room, and after a moment of thought, she stepped up to the terminal. "All right, Cerebro. Backup power's a go. Now we get to find out what did this in the first place, right?"

"Indeed. The lights are back up, and so are recharge stations-not that you generally need those." Adam commented. "Unfortunately, elevators and hatches are still down. Without the main power up, we're in a less than optimal situation."

"I found the problem, at least." Samus said, making a face. "Some kind of vines all over the reactor. Regenerate almost as quickly as I burn them."

"Vegetation choking the reactor core components... unfortunate." Adam said after a moment. "That sounds like the Nettori from Sector 2. You'll need to get there and kill that Replicant in order to restore power, then."

"Right. Good news is, if those things got in here, there'll be a way to get into Sector 2 without using the elevators. I'll follow them back to the source." Samus decided. "Um. Look, this may sound weird, but. Have I seemed different in any way lately? Behavior-wise, I mean?"

"Not that I have been able to detect." Adam replied after a moment. "Do you have some cause for worry, in that regard?"

"Probably not. Just feeling weird." Samus shrugged it off. "Anyways. Keep thinking about my offer. I've got work to do."

"Samus, wait." Adam spoke up as she turned to go. "You realize you are basically asking me to commit treason against the Galactic Federation."

"Oh, please. It's not that big a deal." Samus glared back over her shoulder. "I'm putting more pieces of the puzzle together the longer I'm here. It's only a matter of time before I figure it out myself. Finding it out from you would just be faster and more convenient. Plus, a lot of what was here is fucked now anyways, so whatever the plan was will probably be scrapped even after we clean the X out of here."

"Indeed?" Adam's voice took on a faint note of derision. "I believe you are bluffing, Samus. What we've found here is hardly enough to begin seeing the entire picture."

"Maybe what _you've_ found." Samus retorted. "What makes you think I've been sharing everything? For example, the fact that Renpou personally told the lead scientist here what was supposed to be going on? He's in this up to his neck, if not even deeper."

"What?" Adam made a confused beep. "You... I see. The human replicant. What exactly did you see, Samus?"

"Enough. I'm not going to make this easy for you." Samus turned away again. "That'd defeat the entire point. Choose, computer."

"Choose, you say." Adam said, blank and toneless again. "Between you and the Federation?"

"No. Wouldn't ask that, or trust it." Samus shook her head. "Between the Federation and yourself. You willing to die for them?" She walked out, and Adam didn't try to stop her this time.

The reactor room was full of KiHunters again, and she took the time to kill each and every one of them before examining the vines. Eventually, she found them coming from a crack in the wall under where she had originally entered the room, and climbed up to roll through as a Morph Ball, using Bombs to open her path as she went.

Eventually, the vines began moving; twitching oddly, but making no move to attack. Shortly after they did, Samus fell out of the crack, and uncurled to find herself facing a huge mass of them blocking her path. "Well, this is super. No way I'll be able to clear this out before it comes back." Muttering obscenities under her breath, she walked forward anyways, and once again, the floor fell apart beneath her feet. Tumbling down, she doubled her curses, then glanced below her and turned white.

A moment later, she landed on the unsuspecting SA-X, knocking it flat.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck _motherfucker!_" Samus screamed, suckerpunching the monstrosity in the back of the head, then firing an Ice Super. Without waiting to see the results, she leapt to her feet and dashed for the only exit she could see. _Just keep running, just keep running, fuck!_ Before her, a wall of bendezium blocked her path. _No time to blow that! I'm dead! No no no no no! _

_**Shut the fuck up!**_ A voice in her mind screamed, even louder. _**What are you, a fucking civilian? You have ice missiles. Use one. Power Bomb. Use another. **_**Then**_** run again.**_

"What is... what..." Samus shook her head, still terrified. Almost automatically, she did exactly as the voice instructed, turning around and blasting the SA-X with another Ice Super as it fired its beam. The blast hit her in the gut, slamming her into the wall, but her own shot flew just as true, freezing it for a moment. Dropping the Power Bomb, she uncurled and fired again as the ice wore off, then bolted through the remains of the barricade.

_**Good. Keep moving, rookie.**_ The voice taunted her. _**This was a trap. It knew you'd come here. There'll be more crap in your way to keep you from escaping, so be ready for that. If you can handle **__**it, that is. Maybe you'll just die here, whining. Like a little bitch.**_

_We are going to have a long talk about this soon, asshole._ Samus thought back, anger mixing with her fear. _Once I actually live._ Seeing more vines ahead, she began frying them, then reeled as a Super Missile hit her. Freezing the SA-X again, she returned to clearing the path, remembering to re-freeze it before running again, her back on fire. Another shot burned into the wound, and she barely managed to stay on her feet, rounding a corner. _Can't keep this up-oh, shit! A dead-end!_

_**Duct! It can't see you right now!**_ The voice pointed out. _**On your left!**_

"Finally!" Samus whispered, leaping up and pulling the grate out of the wall with her hand and tossing it inside before crawling in herself. _Come on, come on, fall for it..._ A moment later, the SA-X ran in, then stopped, looking around. _You realize if it figures this out, I'm dead meat._

_**Yeah, but that's not gonna happen.**_ The voice assured her. _**If I've got the right idea, that thing's copying you. It's got your form and instincts, but not your experience. It's a rank amateur. No idea how to dodge whatsoever. It'll never think of this.**_

"Bitch." As if to confirm the voice's words, the SA-X snarled the epithet before turning and leaving.

_**Don't get out just yet,**_ the voice cautioned. _**It'll probably stick around for a while to try and catch you.**_

_Don't have to tell me that,_ Samus thought back. Now that it was gone, she felt free to be fully pissed-off. _All right, you. No more playing subtle. Who are you, where did you come from, and how do I get rid of you?_

_**I'm your conscience, Samus.**_ the voice said, dripping innocence. _**You've finally undergone enough mental trauma for me to get through. Now then, let's talk about your gambling habit. Not to mention, you drink far too often. And the violence? We **_**have**_** to do something about **_**that.**

_You're about as funny as my taxes going up._ Samus scowled. _Try again, lunkhead._

_**All right, all right, you got me. You're going crazy and hearing things. **_The voice chuckled. _**I'm entirely a figment of your imagination. All the stress got to you. You've finally cracked.**_

_Two strikes, asshole._ Samus growled incoherently. _I will fucking turn myself in to the Feds for mental treatment. I'll do it. Don't tempt me._

_**Bullshit. You wouldn't do that if I was a goddamn multiple personality.**_ The voice sneered. _**Come on. You want me to just **_**tell you?**_** That's disgusting. I think it might even be sacreligious. I'll give you a hint, okay? What's the worst possible answer you can think of?**_

"Well, that's reassuring." Samus muttered, then put some thought into the question. None of the answers she came up with were pleasant, obviously. _Clarify. Worst as in people I want to murder with a white-hot spoon? Or worst as in people who annoy the hell out of me?_

_**Heh. Combine the two.**_ The voice chuckled, and suddenly it had depth and tone and mocking sarcasm, and Samus knew it.

_Oh, no. No, no, _fuck_ no._ She swore vehemently. _You have _got _to be shitting me. Karma's a two-dollar slut and I'm in her asscrack._ _You're _Ridley. _Get the _fuck_ out._

_**Bing bing bing, we have a winner.**_ The Drakar snarked. _**Look, sister, I didn't exactly buy the ticket and take the ride intentionally myself. Last thing I remember is going out back in Norfair, and then bing-bang-boom I've got the penthouse suite in your cerebral cortex with no explanation whatsoever. You've got more of an idea about what's going on here than I do.**_

_I'd call bullshit, but that does sound like just my luck._ Samus fought down the urge to slam her head against the floor of the duct. _Let's see. First time I heard you was... when I found your corpse. Accidentally drained something. Metroids suck, and being one sucks more._

_**Whoa-hoa-hoa now, **_**that's**_** new.**_ Ridley said. _**I'd ask if you were joking, but you wouldn't find that one funny. Metroid? You? Damn. That, and the new look... you've been through the wringer since Zebes, haven't you? **_

_You don't know the half of it, and I'm not particularly interested in telling you._ Samus crawled out of the duct and looked around, then slowly began creeping back towards the vines. The SA-X failed to reappear, and she found another crevice in the floor where the plant growth was coming from. _I don't believe this shit. Just try and keep quiet until I can find something to do about this?_

_**And why on Zebes would I do **_**that**_**, now?**_ Ridley sounded amused. _**I saw what's left of my body, Samus. I'm dead for good, this time. Way I see it, bugging you is about the only thing left that I **_**can **_**do, now. So forgive me for not wanting to be bored out of your skull. Can't exactly read a book or watch holovids like this.**_

"This is hell." Samus spoke aloud now that there was no danger of the SA-X. "I died in that crash after all, and now I'm in hell. Suddenly, it all makes sense." Shaking her head, she blew away some encroaching KiHunters. The environment had changed around her, moss and lichen growing on the stones, and now she was walking past other plant life. Checking her map, she nodded. _Sector 2, all right. Hope I'm close, now._ Unfortunately, the vines went up through the center of the ceiling next. "Damn. My planet for my Spider Ball."

_**If **_**you**_** owned your own planet, the Feds would have collective apoplexy.**_Ridley snickered. _**So I say go for it. **_**After**_** you just use a Power Bomb here, that is.**_

"Oh, right. Up near the ceiling, and bring the whole thing down on my head. Super." Samus checked her map instead, then kept walking. "Better idea. I'll just get into the room above this one the _right_ way."

_**You know, sometimes you are **_**no fun**_** at all, Samus.**_ Ridley complained. _**Fine. Be logical. See if I care.**_

"Happy to, thanks."Samus found a double-level service room nearby, and Space Jumped onto the upper half easily. Back on the trail of vines, she continued along it as well as she could; they were thicker and heavier now, and several times she had to make detours where they were impenetrable, blasting KiHunters the entire time. "Man, why are these suckers so numerous all of a sudden?"

_**Maybe this Nettori thing eats them.**_ Ridley suggested. _**The yakuza did. That's why the Federation wouldn't let that planet in. Something about sentients eating other sentients kind of gets to them. I wonder why.**_

"Bite me. Hard."Samus growled as she came across a KiHunter tangled in a mass of vines. They had penetrated its exoskeleton in a dozen places, and it looked sickly and pale, but made no moves to attempt escape. Making a disgusted face, Samus killed it with a missile before pressing on. "And the X just go along with it. Well, on the bright side, now I know there's something in the galaxy even more fucked up than you Pirates."

_**You think so?**_Ridley replied dryly. _**Hey, the vines are turning green! Think that's significant?**_

"Maybe." Samus admitted grudgingly. Following them through a crevice in the floor, she dropped down into the heart of the infestation.

Vines of varying thickness covered every surface of the chamber, with eight massive vertical ones evenly spaced around the walls. Half of the floor was demolished, and in trenches were huge pink flowers, fanged maws in the center of their blooms. On the ceiling, smaller flowers had begun releasing drifting pollen, which was probably acidic to the touch. Finally, dominating an entire wall was the plant monster's core, from which the vines all grew.

"A Golden Torizo." Samus stared, recognizing the active, violent form of Chozo statues. "The Feds found another one of those and used it for their experiments. Bastards." Aiming carefully, she fired a missile into the unmoving statue, then another, before a speck of pollen began burning into the back of her helmet. Wincing, she leaned forward, then tumbled.

_**Oh ho! What's left of the floor is tilted towards those carniflora! **_Ridley chuckled, amused. _**Not a bad setup, here. Kraid couldn't have done any better.**_

"Glad your sense of aesthetics is satisfied, or whatever." Samus muttered under her breath, extending her arms and grabbing the other side of the trench. Unfortunately, some pollen settled onto her back, and she jerked involuntarily, tumbling in. The flower immediately began crushing her, and it took several moments before she could climb out, by which time the air was thick with pollen. Muttering curses under her breath, she turned her beam upon the drifting menace, clearing it out before returning to the statue.

"Pollen flowers would probably just grow back, since they're hooked up to this thing." She reasoned. "Only way is to take out the source." More missiles slammed home, and some of the vines growing out of the statue fell off. For its part, the statue showed no response to her attacks. More pollen sent her down into another flower, and she took more damage before escaping, irritation rising further."What it's got for a mind is probably comatose. What the fuck were the Feds thinking?"

_**That it would work, and that the benefit for them would outweigh the losses, of course.**_ Ridley explained. _**That's what really matters. It always amused me how you were so adamant that they were the good guys and we were the bad guys. There's really not all that much different about the Feds and the Pirates. Some of them are just in denial, that's all. **_

"And by that, you mean some of them are actually good people." Samus snapped, burning more pollen out of the air and continuing to missile the core. "Important distinction there."

_**You think Horzat and Tarna were freaks, then?**_ Ridley continued, his smirk almost audible. _**Or how about your pal Firk? I saw you getting buddy-buddy with him after you fried Draygon. Just because you've got a grudge against us is no reason to stereotype, Samus.**_

"Never claimed I was exactly a moral pillar, either. That's the point, really." Samus blew more vines off of the statue, then cursed mildly as she fell into a flower once more. "Damn! All I need to know is the Federation signs my paychecks, and I never get tired of frying Pirates."

_**For now,**_ Ridley added. _**Wonder what you'll do if the Feds ever piss you off as much as we do. I don't know the whole story with this place here, but I'm guessing that might be pretty soon. Whoa! Nice one!**_ The statue's head had crumbled under the missile onslaught, leaving a bare stump on the Torizo's shoulders. _**Another one bites the dust, eh?**_

"Not quite. Living statues don't play by the same rules normal people do." Samus remembered grimly. Sure enough, the stump began firing laser beams, and the rest of the room continued trying to kill her as well. The first lasers hit Samus head on, knocking her head over heels into another flower. When she pulled herself out, her energy levels were beginning to lower dangerously. "I am getting seriously pissed off at this thing, right here."

_**So what are you going to do about it?**_ Ridley challenged.

"I'm going to stop shitting around, that's what." Samus answered, dropping a Power Bomb. As she had predicted, all of the plant life simply grew back within the space of a few seconds, but that wasn't the point; the air was completely cleared of pollen, and Samus was able to concentrate on avoiding the lasers and returning fire with charged shots. When the pollen drifted too close, another Power Bomb cleared it away once more.

Eventually, the remains of the Golden Torizo crumbled apart, the rubble shedding its vines and falling to the floor. In the instant that it did, the vines themselves underwent a similar transformation, decaying into dry brown husks and then further into nothing but dust, spreading outward from the core and then out of the room. Samus' eyes, however, remained locked on the core as the leftovers shimmered and took the form of a one-eyed Core-X.

"It'll have a beam upgrade." Samus grinned, nailing it. "Damn straight. I deserve a treat after this headache." Obliterating the shell was easy by this point, and Samus nabbed the insides, her smile widening as she saw what the reward was. "Plasma Beam. Beautiful." The Plasma Beam didn't add any unique properties to her main weapon, but instead simply ramped the charge up heavily, making it much more effective at simply burning through anything she didn't like and some things she did. "About damn time."

_**Not bad. Rookie.**_ Ridley jibed. _**Maybe you'll make it through this one alive after all. Now what?**_

"Now, we get out of here." Samus sighed. "If I can remember the way out of this freaking arboretum." Around her, she heard a faint humming restart, and crossed over to a hatch, which opened directly. "At least the power's back on. So that's _that_ problem out of the way. Five bucks says when we get back to the front door the next one's already going to be waiting for us."

_**One, I don't **_**have**_** five bucks. Unless you take ghost money or whatever.**_ Ridley commented. _**Two, even if I did I wouldn't take that bet. I know how the universe goes just as well as you do, Samus. Nice try.**_

_It was worth a shot._ Samus shrugged, crushing the transparent remains of a Zero's cocoon underfoot as she moved on. _Like you said, I've gotta keep myself entertained somehow._

_**We appear to have to come to terms.**_ Ridley agreed.


	9. Chapter 8: Sympathy For The Devil

_**Chapter 8: Sympathy For The Devil**_

"Excellent work, Samus. All power is restored, and no trace of the Nettori's infestation remains." Adam spoke as she walked into the Navigation Room. "I was able to see you absorb another Beam upgrade, as well."

"Yeah. Plasma." Samus forced a grin. "That'll show that bitch SA-X a thing or two."

"Plasma Beam functionality restored. I see." Adam replied slowly. "That is unexpected."

"Why?" Samus jumped on that. "It's just another upgrade, like all the others. No big deal about it. I figured on getting it back eventually."

"Well, yes. However, in your previous missions, you have usually acquired the Wave Beam first." Adam said. "Regardless, I suggest continuing to avoid the SA-X. It is still stronger than you are, at this point."

_**The chatbot's got a point,**_ Ridley agreed. _**The punk bitch might not be as good as you are, but it does have the gear. Specifically, the colors might be wrong, but that's the Gravity Suit's level of armor. Fat chance of you beating that.**_

"Yeah, okay." Samus replied to both easily. "Not like I actually wanted to hunt it down or anything. Yet, anyways." She paused for a moment. "Where is it right now, anyways?"

"At the moment, it seems distracted by something in Sector 6." Adam reported. "There is no worry of it attacking you at the moment."

"Good to know." Samus leaned against the back wall. "All right. Now what do we do?"

"Now?" Adam repeated. "Now, we must talk, Samus. I am concerned about you."

"How's that go?" Samus replied skeptically, showing no signs of the chill that ran through her. _Shit. I kept talking to Ridley out loud after the power went back up._

_**Real smooth.**_ Ridley agreed. _**No, seriously. Way to go.**_

"You have been talking to yourself, Samus. Speaking as if another person was present, when alone." Adam confirmed. "I assume you began doing so while the power was out. Rather than assuming the worst, that you have become mentally unstable, I would like to inquire as to other possible explanations."

"Oh, there's other possible explanations, all right." Samus nodded calmly. "I don't feel like sharing them, though. Go ahead and write me up as dangerously unstable, call the Feds, whatever. Hell, maybe even suggest to Renpou that he send a psyche team in here. Doesn't change the fact that I'm the only one around who can work this job. Pulling me out isn't exactly an option, and everybody here knows it."

"I see." Adam replied with all the warmth of an ice giant going swimming in midwinter.

"Now, on the other hand, if I felt I could trust you, that might be a different story." Samus continued. "Maybe if I thought you'd know what to tell the Feds and what not, I'd feel more like explaining why I was _really_ doing that. Of course, that's just speculation on my part. But it's an interesting possibility, wouldn't you say?"

"Samus, you are absolutely-" Adam started to say, sounding frustrated, before breaking off. "Oh. Oh, damn. We have more trouble. Hold on a minute."

"Ohhhhkay." Samus shrugged, waiting. About a minute passed before Adam spoke again.

"All right, I've isolated the cause." He said, tension evident. "As fascinating as this conversation has been, Samus, it seems we'll have to continue it at a later date. We have no time to waste."

"If you're going to tell me some other kind of self-destruct has been activated..." Samus growled.

_**Nah, not that.**_ Ridley chimed in. _**My guess is one of those other secret weapons the man told you about back on your ship is loose. If they got into this one, they can get others.**_

_You stay out of this._ Samus thought, trying to hide her unease at the thought.

"The ARC Sector's data room has just been completely demolished in a massive explosion." Adam explained. "The replicant responsible is Sector 5's Nightmare, Samus. The X have acquired it. Hurry, to Sector 5; I'll brief you further there. The Nightmare is capable of destroying this entire station if we give it time. It must be killed immediately."

"Fuck." Samus turned and ran. "I'm on my way."

_**What did I tell you?**_ Ridley gloated as she left. _**But hey, look on the bright side. I actually should have taken that bet of yours. Technically, the next problem didn't start until **_**after**_** we got here. I could have made five bucks.**_

_I thought I told you to shut up,_ Samus snarled mentally, rushing to Sector 5 as fast as she could. As always, the elevators seemed to take forever before she burst into the Navigation Room. "Okay, Macintyre. What's the deal with this freak?"

"The trail of destruction leading from the Nightmare's previous location to the Data Room is massive." Adam said, unable to keep an undercurrent of tension out of its voice. "You should be able to follow it easily to the monster's current location."

_**Interesting. He's sounding like this is actually getting to him.**_ Ridley noted. _**He normally plays cold and emotionless, doesn't he?**_

_Yeah, but it's bullshit. And he's been getting sloppy about that lately._ Samus replied before speaking aloud. "Yeah, okay. But I meant more along the lines of details. What's this thing actually going to bring to the table against me?"

"As a bio-mechanical organism designed for military applications, it naturally has a great deal of firepower for armament. To be specific, six Yamato beam cannons, which are typically mounted on battlecruisers." Adam explained. "The most troublesome thing, however, is the experimental gravity engine."

"Gravity manipulation? You have _got_ to be kidding me." Samus closed her eyes. "Yeah, I can see how that would be a problem. All right, this thing dies. I just follow the wreckage, then?"

"That would be the best way to locate it. I can't confirm the location beyond that." Adam admitted. "This thing is completely out of control. Hurry, Samus, before it simply smashes through to the Main Deck."

"Yeah, yeah." Samus saluted sarcastically before leaving.

Adam had spoken truly; the destruction was incredible. The room with the glass panes fronting the Nightmare's containment had been partially collapsed, massive chunks of ceiling and wall blocking off some halls. Instead, Samus followed a new tunnel which had been ripped through without a care for what was in the way. Already, X replicants got in her way, and she destroyed them without pausing for a moment. As Adam had told her, nothing remained of the Data Room but a pile of smoking rubble.

"Guess that's it for getting free gear from Optimus." Samus muttered before continuing along the trail of destruction. "Should have known that was too good to last." Pausing at an edge, she looked down into the completely flooded halls below and sighed heavily. "Should have figured this would be a pain in the ass, too. Figures the piece of shit ruptured some pipes." Wincing, she slipped into the frigid water.

_**Maybe there'll be some Evir around here to play with you!**_ Ridley suggested brightly. _**They had Zebesians and KiHunters, after all.**_

"The Evir quit the Pirates after I crispy-fried Draygon." Samus reminded him absently as she blasted a Zebesian, who was fortunately as affected by water resistance as she was. "They got those from the same ship they hauled your carcass out of."

_**Yeah, but if I've got the right idea about what they were up to here, they'd have found a way to pick some up.**_ Ridley pressed. _**Wouldn't have been able to keep them with the other sentients since they're aquatic.**_

"You think you know what they were doing?" Samus replied skeptically. "What was it, then, smart guy?"

_**Now why would I go and tell you that?**_ Ridley chuckled. _**We're still enemies, Samus. This **__**little situation doesn't mean we're going to go join the Egenoid Star Marines together.**_

"Damn straight. Fine, keep your secrets."Samus narrowed her eyes as a free X blob zeroed in on a Zebesian replicant. The crustacean shimmered, and then suddenly it had a fishlike tail, rushing at Samus with vastly increased speed. "What. The fuck."

_**Um. Yes. Agreed.**_ Ridley stammered. _**A Mer-Zebesian. Please kill it. **_

"Wish granted." Samus blew the bizarre lifeform away with an Ice Super. "Okay, that was just messed up. I suppose we agree on that."

_**It's happened before, with things far less twisted.**_ Ridley said with what felt like a mental shudder. _**Think there'll be more?**_

"Knowing our luck? Count on it." Samus made a face. She was right; several more needed to be disposed of before the trail led back onto dry land. As soon as it did, she saw the giveaway Eye Guardian down at the end of the path. "There we go. It'll be behind that." Taking a moment to brace herself, she charged into a room full of scrap metal and disused machinery. A huge pile of it covered entirely half the chamber. Most of the other half was taken up by what awaited her, silently hovering in the air.

The Nightmare's main body was a metal-clad hulk, square in the front tapering down to a flattened rear. A cylinder protruded from the underside, with a hole in the center. The beast's only limbs were a pair of limp appendages that dangled down from its sides, cannons lining their fronts in vertical rows. Bizarre machinery covered its back, and in the square hole made for its face, a metal mask had been set, with a crude replication of a mouth sewn shut and gaping black holes for eyes. Accompanying all this was a quiet, incomprehensible moaning.

"Good thing I'm not a rookie, or else this might actually scare me." Samus muttered, scanning the biomechanical monstrosity for obvious weakpoints. None presented themselves. "Fuck it." Raising her blaster, she raked the house-sized Nightmare with fire. Almost all of it simply slid off; the only target that soaked it up was the cylinder. "There we go. Aim for the-you know what, no. I'm not going there."

_**Appreciated,**_ Ridley commented.

Moaning louder, the Nightmare lowered itself towards the floor, and the cannons sprang into life. Each of them took a moment to actually fire, but when they did, the beams that emerged were fully the length of Samus' own body.

"Fuck, Lappy wasn't kidding!" Samus swore, diving out of the way of the blasts. Fortunately, they were all horizontal; the monster seemed to have some aversion to angling itself. That luck was balanced out by the massive holes the missed shots punched into the wall. Snarling, Samus ran underneath the monster, firing Supers wildly. Without stopping, she continued under and then behind it, half a dozen of the projectiles hitting home.

Slowly, the Nightmare turned to face her, and as it did, the air around them began distorting strangely. As it revolved, the cylinder became visible again. It was now spinning, and the hole glowed with red light.

"What the..." Samus began to curse, but the words themselves took several moments to say each, and she stopped, startled. Her movements were equally sluggish, and with horror, she saw the cannons beginning to fire once more. Throwing herself into motion, she could only watch as her body moved like through water, or worse. She skidded across the floor, and the beams shot overhead, but only barely; even in passing, they were so powerful they scorched her suit. Raising her arm, she fired more Missiles, but the projectiles were even more affected; they hung in the air for moments, then dropped, unable to continue going.

_**Well, now. **_**This**_** is interesting.**_ Ridley murmured. _**Gravity engine, eh? I wonder if I'll ever find a way back to life again. If I told Kraid about this one, he'd be wandering around like a pothead for a week thinking about it.**_

"You really know how to cheer me up when I'm in a bad mood, dragon boy." Samus muttered, forcing herself back to her feet and away from the Nightmare before it could crush her flat. "Charged shots it is." When the monster turned around again, she was ready for it, and fired; this time, the blast burned heavily into the device. "Oh yeah. Damn, I love my plasma beam. And my charge beam, on that note. Wide beam's not bad either." All the same, it was taking too long for her tastes. "Fucking Yamato cannons. Just a couple hits from those would put me down."

The Nightmare seemed intent on delivering those hits. Its movements changed, and it began swaying erratically up and down, as well as side to side. The dangling arms began rocking around, and the cannons attached thus had their firing points randomized. The storm of blasts rained on, and try as she might, Samus could barely dodge, let alone fire back. Several times, she brushed against enemy fire from the side, and felt it burn through with just that contact.

"There has got to be a better way to do this." She growled. Looking around the room, her eyes brightened as they fell on a service ladder climbing up one wall. Suddenly running to the left, she surprised the Nightmare, and by the time it turned to follow her, she was already there. Climbing up the ladder, she fired, charged, and fired again, moving up just a little ahead of the beast. It rose to follow her, and when they were at the top of the room, she simply let go and dropped, placing her far below it and in position to score multiple hits.

_**Not bad. Wonder why it doesn't just lean over. **_Ridley admitted grudgingly. _**But if you don't do some serious damage by the time it gets back down here, it'll blow you away.**_

"Good thing I don't plan on that, then." Samus smirked. Her blasts had taken their toll; charred and smoking, the gravity engine whirred to a halt, and reality returned to normal. "That's the biggest problem down. Now to finish the job."

_**Whoa, hold it. Check out the face.**_ Ridley suggested.

"It..." The Nightmare's eye sockets had been empty and blank when Samus had first seen them. Now, they were dripping a green goo that oozed down its face to the corners of the mask. Its murmuring was increasing, both in volume and in legibility. "-op it..." Slowly, the metal mask began to come loose, and then fell off. "Please..."

"Holy shit, it talks?" Samus growled, transfixed. For the moment, the cannons had halted, and so she did so as well, staring up at the Nightmare's true face.

"It hurt..." The monster's visage was a mass of sick green ooze, constantly running. What was underneath was not visible. "-Ease stop...." The sources of the slime were six yellow eyes, in two vertical rows. Aside from them, the only feature was a gaping pink mouth. "Stop it..." Staring down at Samus, all the eyes twitched in different directions, all of them crying green slime. "Please stop it hurts... please stop it hurts..."

_**It wants you to kill it.**_ Ridley realized. _**It can't override its programming to fight you, but it's begging you for death. Pain is probably the only thing it's ever known, ever since the scientists here brought it to life. The X weren't expecting this.**_

"I should have snapped their necks myself before the X got them." Samus snarled, suddenly infuriated. Raising her cannon, she blasted at the face. The moment she did, the cannons began firing again as well, but she was already on the ladder. This time, the Nightmare began moving towards her as well as firing. "Won't let me just drop this time. It'll rush me when I'm near the top."

"Please stop it hurts..." The Nightmare continued to moan, cannons still firing. "Please stop it hurts..."

"At least it's not sentient." Samus muttered, continuing to climb and fire; the face was a closer and larger target than the gravity engine had been, not to mention positioned higher, so hitting it was much more feasible. "It's not actually talking. Just mimicing what it's heard that sounds like what it feels." Nearing the top of the ladder, she took a deep breath, then flung herself out into space over the Nightmare. As she did, it suddenly charged forward, and rammed its body into the ladder where she had been.

_**So much for **_**that**_**,**_ Ridley snickered as the Nightmare peeled itself off the wall, revealing the crushed remnants of the ladder. _**Now what? It'll be trying to squish you full-time now. Might not be **__**such a good idea to stay on the floor.**_

"Nope. That's why I'll be taking a leaf out of your book." Samus shot back. "Let's settle this in the sky, ugly." With the Space Jump tool she had absorbed from the Yakuza, Samus had what amounted to her own flight capabilities. Jumping and spinning in the air, she flew around the giant monstrosity, firing every time she got a glimpse of its face.

"Please stop it hurts..." The Nightmare continued to groan mindlessly, turning as well to try and track her. The metal-clad monster charged again, but she was already gone, and it bounced off the wall from its own velocity. The ooze was turning brown now, mixing with its own blood. The cannons were no longer aiming, but simply firing wildly and randomly.

"A little more, a little-_shit!_"By pure chance, one of the cannons shot Samus out of the air, and she fell to earth, smoking and spinning. Gasping, she stared at the scorch mark covering half her torso, then forced herself out of the way as the Nightmare crashed down on her. Running away from it as it skidded across the ground, she paused, then turned and began pumping missiles into the face, point-blank. The landing had forced the arms to spread to its sides, and none of them could focus on her at the moment.

"Please stop it hurts..." The Nightmare gasped, struggling to rise, its entire disgusting face beginning to melt and droop out and off. By the time it was airborne, Samus was already running underneath it, and once behind the monster, she Space Jumped into the air again. Resuming her original attack plan, she circled it in the air once more, and slowly brought it down, shot by shot.

Eventually, the damage simply accumulated to the point where the Nightmare's design could no longer hold together. Still moaning, it died, cannons trailing off and voice winding down. As it collapsed in a heap, it shimmered and vanished, even the mechanical shell disappearing. All that remained was a shelled Core-X, which Samus quickly broke open and absorbed without another word. She bore the transformation of her suit similarly, then looked down at her hand, now purple and green like the rest of her.

_**The Gravity Suit upgrade. Cute. Real cute.**_ Ridley commented. Despite its name, there was no effect on gravity; the suit simply nullified liquid resistance, in addition to increasing the armor quality further. _**Still functional there?**_

"Yeah. I was right. Not sentient." Samus said, relieved; the prospect of what the poor abomination's last minutes would have been like was not a pleasant one. "That's another one down, then. Let's go see what Mike the TV wants this time."

* * *

_**In retrospect, your mistake was obvious.**_ Ridley commented. _**You assumed automatically that whatever was going to happen next to piss you off would be another problem on the station that your chatbot would inform you about when you contacted him again. By expecting that, you blinded yourself to the possibility of something going wrong before that. For example, having part of the path the Nightmare carved through the station cave in behind you. **_

"As soon as I get off of this station, I am going to pry you out of my brain with a goddamn can opener if I have to." Samus growled, turning away from the rubble blocking the underwater tunnel. "Guess I'm finding another way around. This place is lousy with secret passageways; there's got to be one around here. As a matter of fact..." Following the water, she soon found the source of the flooding, and raised an eyebrow. "Son of a bitch. The Nightmare didn't do it. This was built in. A back hall between Sectors 5 and 4."

_**Of course.**_ Ridley said. _**They'd definitely have those all over the place. If the only way to get between sectors was the main deck, their plan for this place would be a joke.**_

"Yeah yeah yeah, cryptic Pirate is cryptic." Samus muttered, emerging from the tunnel and looking around. "I was wondering about this." Instead of the tanks she was used to, she now stood in a perfect replication of an underwater tunnel environment. Colorful rocks, corals and plants covered every surface, and different paths branched out in multiple directions. Through it all, Skultera fish swam.

_**Maridia,**_ Ridley realized. _**It's an artificial Maridia. And Sector 2 was Brinstar. **_

"Yeah, they've got a fake Crateria and Norfair too." Samus explained absently, stepping lightly through the water and killing another bizarre Mer-Zebesian. "And no, I have no plans of going to the latter any time soon, so don't bother asking."

_**Spoilsport,**_ Ridley accused.

"I was kind of wondering about this one. What I saw of it so far wasn't exactly as devoted a replication as the other three." Samus continued, ignoring him. "Should have known that it would be here, just well-hidden. If you're right about Evir being kept on-station, they'd have to be out of sight for casual inspections. Sentient enemies are one thing, but the Evir are members of the Federation." Running through a glass tunnel, she frowned at a red-colored hatch, dull and inactive. "And of course, the top-level security hatches I haven't activated yet are around here."

_**Five bucks says you won't be able to get out of here without going through those,**_ Ridley guessed.

"No bet." Samus shook her head and turned around. Unfortunately, the next path she tried also ended in a red hatch, and the next. Eventually, all the tunnels came up that way. "All right, logically, the security room's got to be accessible from here. Think Adam even said it was in Sector 4. It'll just be a bitch to find."

_**What I'm wondering is, why glass tunnels? I mean, we're already underwater.**_ Ridley said. _**Water on both the inside and the outside? Doesn't make sense, unless...**_

"Huh. Fancy that. You're actually useful for once." Samus admitted, running back to the glass tunnel and blowing it apart with a Power Bomb. Climbing out into the area above it, she found herself confronted by a floating crustacean. Its shell and legs were covered in a bright red carapace, and the fleshy underside looked soft and yellow. Its blue eyes were oddly cute, but the chain-mace tail that whirled around it was all business, and familiar as well. "Weird. They're _like_ Evir, but those are green, not red. And they're ugly, too. No offense to the Firkgon. These things could sell stuffed plush animals."

_**Indeed they could. And my argument that there's not as much of a difference between us and the Federation as you like to claim progresses further.**_ Ridley said, voice strangely quiet. _**Well, well, well.**_

"What the hell are you talking about?" Samus demanded, killing the replicant and devouring the X.

_**Certain things are made a particular point of by the Federation when they wish to take the moral high ground.**_ Ridley explained, deliberately calm. _**One matter in particular, as I recall, is the treatment of juvenile sentients. It seems that, like many other things, the Federation is more than slightly hypocritical.**_

"Juvenile-" Samus stared as another replicant formed. "Are you saying these are Evir _children?_"

_**In a word? Yes.**_ Ridley said. _**Or more accurately, they **_**were.**_** The actual kiddies are all dead. These are just X.**_

"I don't need you to tell me that." Samus lied as she killed more replicants, then dropped through a hole into an airlock, and from there into the security room. "Eh, fuck it. The X already have access to the rest of the station." Opening the level 4 hatches, she turned and returned to the water world. A moment later, Welhaam's device went off. "Don't ask. Just be quiet and listen."

"Adam! Delightful to hear from you again. How go the adventures of our little miracle worker, hmm?" Renpou asked, cheerful as always.

"Positives and negatives both." Adam answered. "She continues to recover her strength. The problem is, this means she now has her plasma beam."

"I see." Renpou said, after a moment. "Well, I do have some good news for you as well. The recovery team will be arriving in eighteen standard hours. Just keep everything we still need on there alive until then."

"Very well, sir." Adam said calmly. "On that note, as we predicted, several of the secret projects have been lost; specifically, the Nettori and the Nightmare. The X got them."

"Well, they're a distant priority now." Renpou chuckled. "What's important is Samus. Speaking of which, how does she feel about you these days?"

"She's delivered an ultimatum, sir." Adam replied. "To summarize, she wants me to inform her of the original purpose of this station. Should I do so, she will continue to utilize my services. If I decline... well, we don't really need to use much imagination."

_**Well, indeed. Now I wonder how you managed to set **_**this**_** one up. **_Ridley murmured. _**This could get very interesting indeed.**_

"Thought I told you to stay quiet." Samus muttered. "I'm trying to listen here."

"I see." Renpou said softly. "She's quite good at doing things this way as well, isn't she. How likely is it that she will discover certain secrets that we'd prefer her not to?"

"Increased." Adam said after a moment. "The matter of the plasma beam aside, she has just now unlocked the level 4 hatches. While she'll need sleep soon, she will still have several hours remaining on this station, and we cannot be sure where she will need to prevent disaster next." He paused for a moment before continuing. "In addition, she is currently listening in on our conversation, with the aid of a device whose source I am unaware of. By the way, Samus, I'm quite impressed by that. Preparing to that extent was ingenious, really."

_**Whoa ho ho!**_ Ridley cackled. _**Pawn takes rook!**_

Samus just stared, too stunned to reply to either of them.

"That's our Samus Aran!" Renpou laughed uproariously. "Beautiful! Magnificent! Truly beautiful and magnificent! And you wonder why we value you so highly, Samus? Oh, this is just too much! I can't wait to see the look on Mark's face when I brief him! Oh, to hell with it! Let's give her a reward, shall we, Adam? How about we spill the beans and fill her in on the whole plan?"

"Er." Adam coughed. "Ahem. That would... not really be a good idea."

"Bah." Renpou scoffed. "Well, fine. At least you can go ahead and give her what she asked for, hm? I'd say she's earned it."

"Very well, sir. When she next returns to the ship." Adam gave in. "Well, Samus. I'd say we've fulfilled our quota for joking around. We'll talk later, but for the moment, I'd appreciate it if you got back on task, and back here, as soon as possible. Anything else, sir?"

"No, no, I daresay that'll be it for now." Renpou began giggling again. "Amazing, amazing... good luck, both of you." The connection died.

_**I'm not going to say anything.**_ Ridley chuckled as well. _**I don't really need to.**_

"Gee, thanks. Your generosity is truly impressive." Samus snarled, angrily killing a shelled replicant. "If he could hear me talking to you, of _course_ he could see me listening in. Now I've got to keep my word, and he gets to stay loyal. Fuck it all."

_**Well, if you're going to **_**compliment**_** me... why do you suppose he let you and that Fed know, right there and then?**_ Ridley asked. _**There was no real need to. He could have waited until you were asleep again to let the old man in.**_

"Well, he..." Samus trailed off, thinking. _Uh. Maybe he only got that level of connection with the station's systems recently, and finding this out surprised... no, he's too sharp for that. No, you're right. The only explanation that makes sense was that he wanted me to know that he knew that I knew that he... shitbiscuits. How the hell does anybody keep all this straight?_

_**Please.**_ Ridley scoffed. _**Back in the Pirates, worse than this happened before breakfast every day. You'll get used to it. For now, focus on what's important.**_

_Right. He dropped it in front of me intentionally._ Samus nodded. _Of course, all _that _means is __that he wants me to seriously buddy up with him. Sort of make up for ruining my trick. He's not __actually losing anything for the Feds._

_**No slipping anything past you.**_ Ridley said smugly. _**Once more, cynical minds think alike.**_

_Speaking of which, why the hell are you being so helpful all of a sudden?_ Samus wondered, sticking to silent thought. _We aren't exactly Bee-Eff-Eff material either._

_**Like I said earlier, it beats being bored.**_ Ridley somehow gave the impression of shrugging. _**This is the only game in town right now, so I'd like it to stay as entertaining as possible. It's nothing personal.**_

_Okay, that I can actually believe._ Samus admitted. _Figures-oh, now what._ She glared at a pillar of fungus that blocked the path, recognizing it from Zebes-none of her weapons would work on it. "Ice Supers could freeze it, but that's no use here."

_**You've got me this time.**_ Ridley admitted. _**The designers couldn't have planned for **_**this** _**one.**_

"There's got to be some way..." Samus muttered, scanning her map. "I'm close, too. Come on..." Searching closely, she eventually found a weak point in the coral that dropped her into a room below, leaving the artificial environment for stark metal once more. "All right, back in the upper portion. Now I just... hey, wait a moment." She scanned her map. "Thought so. Data room's right over there."

_**What the hell's a data room?**_ Ridley inquired. _**Sounds like something out of **_**Spaceways Patrol**_** on channel six.**_

_Why am I not surprised you watch that._ Samus rolled her eyes as she space-jumped up a shaft, finally emerging out of the water at the top. _It's where I get free gear from the Feds. Compy told me I couldn't get to this one without opening level 4 hatches. Now I'm wondering if there's anything there for me to pick up._

_**Worth a shot.**_ Ridley conceded. _**Didn't know they were sweet-talking you **_**that**_** much. That alone probably tipped you off that there was something going on here.**_

_Please. I knew that way before they started giving me bribes._ Samus scoffed, entering the data room and jumping into the upload rack. As soon as she did, it sprang to life, interlocking with her suit as usual. "Guess there was something after all."

**Diffusion effect added to missiles,** her suit explained. **Utilize by charging shot before firing.**

_You're the one with the fancy vocabulary, scaletail._ Samus thought. _What the hell's that mean?_

_**In basic... I think it's a spreading or scattering effect.**_ Ridley replied after a moment. _**Try it and find out.**_

_Yeah, okay._ Samus left the room, focused on a replicant, and did as her suit had suggested. Upon impact, the missile's payload expanded, spreading its cryogenic effects twenty feet around and freezing two other replicants as well as the walls. "Damn, they never did _that_ before!"

_**So it's not Chozo technology,**_ Ridley mused. _**This is something new the Feds have been cooking up all on their own. They're upping the level of their artillery. I wonder if my boys are keeping up while we're all down.**_

_For some reason, that thought doesn't inspire nearly as much dread in me as it should._ Samus shook her head. _This is clearly getting out of hand, how much we have in common._

_**You could always become an optimist.**_ Ridley suggested.

_You could always turn yourself in,_ Samus replied. _All right, we're here._ Climbing up the last few steps to the entrance of the sector, Samus took a deep breath, then calmly walked into the navigation room. "Hi, Sentinel. How about we save the talk for when I'm back on the ship? I'm about ready for another nap after we do. Okay, cool. Bye, Sentinel." She walked out into the elevator room without pausing either speech or pace.

_**Nice. Real nice.**_ Ridley laughed.

_Glad you approve._ Samus snickered, riding the elevator up to the Main Deck. _Since we're getting along... you ever see that one issue of the Galactic Times about us?_

_**Oh, thank you **_**so**_** much for reminding me of that.**_ Ridley made a retching noise. _**I had almost **__**succeeded in blocking the shopped photos out of my memory. Did you really think it was a **__**coincidence that we blew their offices off the face of the planet after that issue came out?**_

_Always wondered about that, actually. Only time I actually cheered your crew on._ Samus admitted, shuddering. _I mean, I know some people are into that sort of thing, but..._

_**Yeah, no. I totally agree.**_ Ridley said fervently. _**Yech. I'm sure you're hot for a human, but... fuck it. Why are we even still talking about this?**_

_Because I can't exactly ask you if you caught the last Blitzball championship._ Samus shrugged.

_**Yeah, true.**_ Ridley agreed, then waited a moment before continuing. _**Who won?**_

_Later._ Samus shook her head. _Here's the ship._ Climbing aboard, she raised an eyebrow. The Etecoons and Dachurai were all piled up in a heap of aliens on an acceleration couch, and a holovid was the only source of light. Four pairs of eyes didn't even twitch in Samus' direction; only Falar turned her head and nodded a greeting before returning to the display, dubbed into Mydiene for their benefit.

_**Do I even want to know what this is?**_ Ridley wondered. It was animated, and brightly colored. Several ominous humans dressed in identical dark uniforms pulled down their hoods, revealing a scarred and eyepatched man with a ponytail, a solemn man with long blue hair, a cheerful younger man holding a blue musical instrument, a woman with a wicked smile and what looked like antennae, and a sinister man with face tattoos under a wild mane of red. A moment later, they all burst into song, leading bizarre creatures in an intricate musical dance number.

_Probably not._ Samus shook her head and quietly crept to the cockpit without disturbing them. Once she was inside, she flopped into the chair. "All right, computer. Just one moment more. Call Horzat up first, okay?"

"All right, fair enough." Adam agreed, making the connection. Several long moments passed before there was any response.

"_What?_" Horzat bellowed as he appeared. "It's a full fucking house, everybody's ordering more, and there's no legally enforced closing time! This had better be good-oh. Oh, it's you. Figures something _important_ calls now of all times."

"God loves you, and so does mister Murphy." Samus smirked. "You get the info I asked for, old man?"

"Yeah." Horzat cut the banter. "Federation picked those critters from Zebes up a standard year ago. Right after the death of a certain Commander Malkovich. Funny old universe, ain't it."

"And right before I went to SR-388." Samus added grimly. "How about that."

"While we're on the subject, when I was asking around about this, the Firkgon brought up something interesting." Horzat continued. "I'm sure you remember that Evir have a _special_ kind of mindset; it's pretty much useless trying to take them alive, since they'll just kill themselves as soon as they have the opportunity. Only feasible way to do that would be to go for juveniles. And as a matter of fact, a carrier ship carrying a pack of Evir kiddies back from a vacation to planet Aximillion vanished mysteriously recently."

"Tell the Firkgon I'm sorry." Samus closed her eyes. "I found out too late. The X already got them."

"I was afraid of that. I'll confirm our suspicions for him." Horzat's eye glittered. "None of us ever wanted it to be this way, but this'll have the Kingdok howling enough to get the entire planet boiling."

"That's something." Samus sighed. "I'll give you the detailed report when I get off this rock, crab. For now, I'm still alive, getting back up to power, and working on figuring out how deep the rabbit hole goes."

"Guess that's what's important." Horzat agreed. "Get back to work, tranny. I'm going back to pulling in my own big bucks." The connection died before Samus could snarl a retort.

"All right. Now that that's out of the way." Samus leaned back in her chair. "How long have you known I was listening to you, computer?"

"I only managed to gain that level of control with the station's systems after you fixed the power outage." Adam explained. "If I'd known before, I would have informed my superiors first thing. You should know that much is true, even if you don't trust most of what I say."

"Ditching the last-generation AI act, I see. I appreciate it." Samus noted. "Yeah, I guess that makes enough sense. So then, I believe we had a deal going on. Why don't you spill, and we'll see where we go from there?"

"All right." Adam fell silent for several moments, and Samus just waited until he spoke again. "You must understand first of all that, despite how some factions of the Galactic Federation think of you, nearly all high-ranking figures agree that you are the most formidable individual in the known universe when it comes to combat. To put it briefly, speaking of 'Samus Aran' is like talking about a force of nature. One with a mind, capable of directing itself. Most of the Federation highly regrets the fact that _they_ have only loose control over you."

"Yeah, I've pretty much figured that out already." Samus agreed. "Old news, really. I never really minded, since most of the time it meant they were scared shitless of me. Guys near the top, though, tend to feel a little different about the matter."

"Indeed. Mark Todar is one such individual." Adam continued. "And so, he began to wonder. What would happen if, by some method, the Galactic Federation could have Samus Aran completely under their control? Of course, that was impossible by normal thinking. You would never agree to that. But Todar's one of those people who believe that everything happens for a reason, has an explanation. He argued that whatever set of circumstances had created a human with the capabilities of a natural disaster could be recreated."

"Oh. Oh, fuck me with a chainsaw." Samus growled, as the light dawned like an oncoming train. "An artifical Zebes and SR-388. This place was supposed to be a _training course._ A Samus Aran factory. Those dumb fucks thought if they put people through what I have, they'd end up like me." A moment passed, and then she laughed uproariously. "That's the most retarded thing I've heard in a _decade._ Of _course_ it was Todar behind that. Oh, wow, that's special."

"Alone, it would have been, yes." Adam agreed calmly. "Hence why they didn't actually start it up. Todar knew it would be useless unless the soldiers put through the curse also had your physical capabilities. To be specific, your Chozo Power Suit. The Federation has been studying it for several standard years now, trying to replicate all of its features."

"All right, _that's_ not so funny." Samus admitted soberly. "It still wouldn't be one-hundred-percent effective. They couldn't actually have soldiers be raised by the Chozo. But it'd be enough to make some very dangerous people. Anybody who survived those kinds of places _would_ have to be damn good."

"Exactly. Not perfect, but still worth the time and money." Adam said. "Of course, lack of Metroids would further reduce efficiency, but they did have candidates for replacing the Pirate Lords and their high-level minions."

"The yakuza and the bioweapons." Samus snapped her fingers. "And Ridley, if they ever figured out Kraid's back-to-life trick."

"And when the X invaded, it all became useless." Adam finished. "Even if the station was purged, all of the lifeforms present are dead, and most of them cannot be reacquired with the destruction of Zebes. The project will be shut down."

"Guess that's all I can ask for, really." Samus grunted. _This isn't over. They're up to something else here now, something that makes that old plan look like tin soldiers. I still need to figure that much out._

_**But you made a deal,**_ Ridley reminded her. _**And the damn thing's not **_**completely**_** fanatical to the Feds.**_

_Yeah, yeah._ Samus sighed inwardly. "All right, computer. A deal's a deal. We're going to be partners for a while, it looks like."

"Look on the bright side." Adam suggested. "I could have been programmed with a personality resembling Todar's. Or Renpou's."

"And there's that sledgehammer sense of humor again." Samus chuckled. "Yeah, you've got a point. I guess we get along better than I thought we would. Just one thing."

"Only one? I was expecting more conditions, provisos and disclaimers than _that._" Adam continued to joke. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were actually starting to trust me, Samus. Very well, let's hear it."

"I _am_ trusting you just a little bit." Samus let all of the humor drain from her face. "So get this straight. Double-cross me, just once, and you're fucking dead. I don't put up with that from anybody, and that goes even more for people I'm putting on my own side."

"Hm." Adam murmured. "I suspected as much. All right."

"Good." Samus turned away. "I'm getting some sleep, and then we'll do our last day on this rock. See you when I come to."

_**It's not quite the same as having an actual ally, but it's good enough, eh?**_ Ridley remarked.

_Something like that._ Samus shrugged, walking past the holovid-watchers. _Still want to find out what they're doing here _now_. We'll see what tomorrow brings._


	10. Chapter 9: Toys In The Attic

_**Chapter 9: Toys In The Attic**_

Lord Rugier of Kyl's evening party had been going for an hour now, and the socializing was in full swing. Dress code was loose and varied, from the Federation's finest dress uniforms to wealthy merchants in gaudy silk and velvet. Chattering politely and often mindlessly, the partygoers drifted around Rugier's country resort, sipping sparkling pink punch and dining on tiny nut-cakes, as the latest hit from the Jimmy Demyx Experience played overhead.

Nobody paid much attention initially when another black hovercar, identical to a hundred others, arrived. When the door opened and its occupants emerged, however, all eyes turned to stare. The woman was tall and lean, beautiful with blonde hair and burning blue eyes. Her dress was simple and black, cut enough to be daring but not indecent. Her male companion, dark-haired and sharp of feature, was a different story. The suit he wore would have been nice, were it not for the black-and-red checkered coloring.

"I still think picking this atrocity out was over the line, Samus." Adam Malkovich muttered low enough so that only her ears would hear, ignoring the startled buzz from the rest of the crowds. "What did they make this out of? A tablecloth from Florrie's Palace?"

"Fair's fair, Adam. I'm at one of these ridiculous parties. Me." Samus growled back, not an ounce of sympathy in her voice. "In a _dress._ As soon as these clowns stop staring at you and figure out who I am, my life will officially be over. The scandal-rags will never live this one down."

"Damn the scandal-rags, lady." Adam continued to whisper. "Anybody who actually believes what they read in that trash isn't worth your time or mine. This will be _good_ for your reputation, Samus. Being feared when you're on the job is all well and good, but now some people in very important positions will see that you can be a sentient, too." He paused. "Besides, you forgot one. You're at one of these ridiculous parties in a dress with a _Fed._ I'd think that would be the _worst_ part."

"You're an exception, and if anybody says different, I'll be glad to explain it to them." Samus smiled thoughtfully. "At length. With an umbrella." Passing one of the tables, she easily scooped up a glass of the punch. "This stuff any good?"

"If you like water." Adam shrugged. "Don't count on getting anything else out of it, though. One of these days I'm going to find out where everybody gets that stuff. I swear, every single one of these parties serves it, no matter which planet they're on. I went to one on _Evir_ once, and there it was. At least the food looks good. I think I see chilled winemelon over there."

"Knew there was a reason I came here with you." Samus joked. "Don't suppose we could just grab some of that and keep people away with glares? I'm good at glares."

"Unfortunately not, as much as I'd prefer that." Adam shook his head; the noise level had risen again, as people began to recognize Samus and spread the word. "Being in my position carries certain responsibilities."

"In other words, circulating." Samus sighed. "Mingling. Socializing. _Damn._" She bit her lip.

"You're not with the Chozo any more, Samus. You're going to have to learn how to interact with other people who aren't at the bottom of the social ladder eventually." Adam looked at her face, and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry. If this is really going to bother you that much, I brought a way out. I've got an envelope with 'blackmail' written on it in bright red in my pocket. I can pull it out, give it to you, and you can ram me into the punch bowl and take off. They'll buy that."

"If you even think about it, I'll make you eat that envelope." Samus threatened. "I agreed to do this. I don't go back on my word." She took a deep breath and straightened her back. "All right, Adam. Let's do this."

"Whatever you say, lady." Adam said with a smile.

The next few hours passed in a blur, as countless guests were introduced to her by Adam, and mind-numbing pleasantries exchanged. Though Samus still had her doubts, Adam bolstered her calmly, providing commentary under his breath between conversations to help her stay informed. Eventually, she began to get the hang of things, and Adam sensed this, leaving more openings in the conversations for her to take up.

"Good job dealing with the Kingdok, lady." He congratulated her, nodding as they left the company of an entire planet's ruler behind them. Aside from his water breathing tank, the crustacean had only been clad in metallic gold body paint. "That was a very diplomatic refusal. I don't think he'll hold a grudge about it."

"As if I was going to get drawn into the Evir's idiotic clan wars." Samus rolled her eyes. "But you had a point; people like him, it pays to be on good terms with. I've made more ground here tonight than a month in the bars would get me, and that's with bribes. None of that needed here."

"So you concede that it was a good move coming here?" Adam asked slyly.

"If it was anybody else, I'd say shove it. But yeah. This hasn't sucked as hard as I thought it would." Samus shook her head. "Of course, if it was anybody else I wouldn't even be here in the first place."

"Careful, Samus." Adam warned her, smiling faintly. "You're starting to sound like you actually like me."

"Am I? How about that." Samus smiled back; they were being left alone for a moment, and she took the opportunity to sit down on a stone bench. "Is that so surprising? I'm not _that_ much of a barbarian, am I?"

"Not at heart, no. But up until now, you seemed hell-bent on making everybody you met believe differently." Adam joined her on the bench. "I daresay I'm one of the only people in the universe who knew better up until tonight, and that's mostly by luck."

"I wouldn't go that far." Samus closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again. "It's kind of nice, actually. Acting like a normal person for a few hours. Thanks, Adam."

"It's my pleasure, Samus." Adam said seriously. "Any time you want to do something like this again, I'll be glad to help. No matter when or where."

"Might want to be careful, talking like that." Samus murmured, suddenly feeling her heartrate increase. "Somebody like me might get the wrong idea, and I don't know if you'd like that. Could be pretty dangerous, Commander."

"Maybe I don't mind danger, if it's for the right reasons." Adam replied, just as quietly, his arms slowly reaching around her. "Maybe I don't think it's really as hazardous as everybody else would, anyways."

"Maybe you're right." Samus agreed, eyes dancing.

"Ah, Adam!" A new voice suddenly interrupted them, and they jerked apart suddenly, turning to look at the interloper. An old man in a suit even more hideous than Adam's, neon purple, smiled cheerfully at them over rose-tinted glasses. "You must tell me where you got that suit! It's marvelous! And is this the legendary Samus Aran? My, my, what a surprise!"

"Renpou." Adam said, going pale. "I wasn't aware you would be attending, sir. I'd have greeted you right away if I had known. My apologies."

"A friend of yours?" Samus asked calmly. "Nice to meet you, I guess."

"The pleasure is mine, I assure you." Renpou chuckled. "I just dropped by, Adam my boy. You know how it goes, suddenly feeling the urge to do something silly, right? Oh well, fortunately there are many people around ready to oblige an old man's whims." Draining a glass of punch, he turned to leave. "I won't keep you, then. Enjoy your evening."

"Adam." Samus growled once Renpou was out of earshot. "Who was that guy?"

"Renpou?" Adam coughed. "He was... is an Admiral. An Admiral in the Wall patrol fleet."

"Right." Samus narrowed her eyes, knowing bullshit when she heard it. In an instant, everything changed, and she stood, ignoring what almost felt like pain. "Well, I've been here long enough to satisfy our deal. I'm taking off. I can call my own cab."

"Samus, wait." Adam rose as well, following her. "Don't-"

"Should have thought of that a minute ago." She said, not pausing for a moment. "Go back to your desk, Adam. I'll call you when I need some more cash. Follow me out, and I'll break your arm." She kept walking, and after a moment more, Adam stopped. She didn't look back as she left the party, even once. She knew that if she did, she wouldn't be able to keep going.

* * *

"Fuck." Samus' eyes snapped open, and she stared up at the ceiling. "So _that's _where I remembered seeing the old bastard from. No wonder that stuck with me."

_**What are you jabbering about now?**_ Ridley groused, sounding half-asleep. **_I was having a nice nap too, you know. That party looked dumb, by the way._**

_Never mind. Not important._ Samus shook her head, rolling out of her bed and coming to her feet. Exiting the room, she saw Sa and Falar standing near the coffeepot; the other three were absent. "Morning, guys."

"Hi, Samus." Sa waved. "The others are still sleeping. We wondered if you'd wake up before they did."

"The ship's computer informed us that this device would produce a strong liquid stimulant, and instructed us in its use." Falar explained, indicating the coffee. "We thought you would appreciate some as well."

"My kind of passengers." Samus nodded gratefully, pouring mugs for all three of them. Taking hers, she leaned against a wall and took a sip. "Couldn't sleep well?"

"Not particularly." Falar admitted, dipping her beak into her mug and blinking, then doing so again. "To be frank, certain current events have us rather worried."

"I assume you mean what the Feds did to you." Samus guessed. "Don't worry. I already told you, you're with me now, and I make that count. If I have to, I'll take you back to your home planets myself and ask whoever's in charge dirtside to shelter you from Fed attention. You'd be surprised how far my rep extends these days."

"That would be appreciated." Sa smiled for a moment, adding more sugar to his coffee. "But our personal safety isn't the only issue here. If your Federation is risking offending unallied planets to this degree, Samus, it could mean some very dangerous things for all of us. Everywhere." The serious talk coming from the tiny Etecoon would have been amusing under other circumstances.

"It's still a bit hasty to actually be planning anything." Samus said, looking skyward significantly. "But I've heard a few things that indicate you're not the only ones who are thinking that way. When I drop you guys off, I'll give you comm numbers for some people I know. You don't have to get involved personally if you don't want to, but..."

"But if we need to, we'll be able to." Falar finished. "Thank you, Samus."

"No problem." Samus nodded. "All part of the job. Speaking of which, don't really want to seem rude, but I should talk with my handler about what I'll be doing here next. Good news is, as far as I know, we'll be done here within about a dozen more standard hours, and then we can see about getting you all home."

"That is excellent to hear." Sa agreed, jumping down from the counter. "I'll go kick those lazy brothers of mine awake, then. Have fun."

"Good hunting, Samus." Falar concurred, then turned to stare at her mug, apparently trying to devise some method of carrying it without spilling the contents.

"Thanks, guys." Smiling, Samus headed into the cockpit. "Morning, computer."

"Good morning, Samus." Adam replied. "Your relationship with those five interests me. At least, coming from somebody who professes not to have friends."

"I don't." Samus snapped reflexively, then paused, reflecting on her interaction with the Etecoons and Dachurai. "I've just been forgetting that. That's all."

"Forgetting that you don't have friends?" Adam repeated skeptically. "If I may propose an alternative theory?"

"Feel free. Just don't expect me to actually give it any credit." Samus shrugged, drinking more coffee.

"You base your inability to have friends on your behavior in civilian life." Adam explained. "But from what I understand of your mentality, you never feel truly at home in that role either. It's only when on the battlefield that you actually feel like yourself. If that's true, then it would make sense that your only true friends would be those you interact with while doing so."

"Bullshit." Samus growled. "I'm playing nice to those folks because Falar has a kid, and the Etecoons are like kids themselves. That's all."

"Really." Adam said skeptically. "If you're so confident, then you wouldn't mind telling me who the closest things to the friends you don't have are."

"Fine." Samus shook her head in disgust. "If it makes you happy. Matrix, but he's dead now."

_**What?**_ Ridley gasped. **_What the fuck did you just say?_**

_Later._ Samus thought angrily. "Horzat, I guess. Commander Malkovich, another dead man." She paused, then sighed. "And those five."

"Matrix, you met on your mission to eradicate the Metroids on SR-388." Adam said smugly. "The other two, you first interacted significantly with on the original mission to Zebes." He paused, then continued. "I was unaware you held my namesake in such high regard, however."

"Malkovich?" Samus closed her eyes. "Don't bring that up, okay, computer? Not now. Talk about something else."

"Very well." Adam conceded. "I forgot to bring this up last night, but you stopped by the data room in Sector 4 on your way out yesterday, correct?"

"Yeah. Another missile upgrade. Diffusion, or something." Samus shrugged. "Never seen that before, but I'm not gonna argue with free loot. HQ didn't tell you that was ready?"

"No. A procedural error, I'm sure." Adam replied calmly. "Something got lost in the paperwork. Or possibly someone. There's certainly enough of it for that to happen."

"And people ask me why I like a job in the field." Samus rolled her eyes. "Well, I've got them. And before you ride my ass about opening up the level 4 hatches, I had to. There was a cave-in, and it was the only way out."

"Very well." Adam sighed. "But try to use more discretion from now on, please. At any rate, we've got another problem. I'll wait while you fall over and go into convulsions from shock that anything could possibly go wrong."

"Laugh it up, computer." Samus smiled. "It's not the SA-X, is it?"

"Fortunately, no." Adam replied. "Let me explain. Do you remember the security robot you fought in Sector 3 earlier?"

"Yeah. It's back on the rampage, huh?" Samus shook her head. "Figured that'd happen eventually. Where is it, then?"

"It's not that simple." Adam continued. "As I worried about earlier, its organic components have been infested and replicated by the X. As soon as they did, it made a beeline for Sector 6, and it's currently crashing around in there. For once, I'm not sure what it's up to, but I suggest we don't wait to find out."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Samus finished her coffee and stood. "I kind of like the thought of cutting those blobs off before they even get started for once."

"I thought you might." Adam said with a slight chuckle. "I'll look into that Sector and see you at the entrance, then."

_**All right, spill.**_ Ridley said as soon as Samus was off the ship. **_What's this about Matrix being dead? I thought the whole _point_ of that last mess was that _everybody_ wanted their hands on him!_**

_It didn't work out that way, okay?_ Samus snarled mentally. _I'm not perfect. He's dead, I'm not, Zebes is fucked. Any more questions, your honor?_ Grabbing a Hornoad off of the ground, she pulped it with her hand alone.

_**Just one.**_ Ridley said after a moment. **_How did he die?_**

_Fighting._ Samus replied, relaxing just a bit. _He went down fighting._

_**A warrior's death, then. I'm glad.**_ Ridley said, his own voice becoming more controlled as well. _**Suppose I can't ask for more than that, in this shithole universe. I liked the little leech.**_

_Yeah, the queen bitch said he took to you._ Samus admitted. _Guess he knew you had something the rest didn't, even if you were a murdering pirate bastard. That sort of thing wouldn't bother Metroids much, I guess._

_**Nope.**_ Ridley agreed smugly. _**Admit it; if it wasn't personal, you wouldn't make such a big deal about it either.**_

_Maybe. But it is personal._ Samus took the elevator down to Sector 6. _And I don't waste time thinking about impossibilities._ Shaking her head, she walked into the navigation room. "All right, computer. What have you got for me?"

"We made the right call, Samus." Adam replied grimly. "The Security Robot's original programming seemed to order it to hold back on its most dangerous abilities. Those restraints have now been removed. Be careful; it's not going to be the same as before."

"Cool. Neither am I." Samus shrugged with a smile. "You worry too much."

"Perhaps, but that's not the only thing I'm worried about." Adam continued. "Under other circumstances, I'd say to come back here later, but we can't afford to let the security robot remain unchecked."

"The SA-X. It's here." Samus guessed.

"You've got it. Once you destroy the robot, leave the NOC sector immediately." Adam instructed. "It will probably start tracking you as soon as it realizes you're here. Don't stay any longer than you must."

"So take another way back, too." Samus nodded firmly. "Leave it to me. I'll slag that droid and be back before you can get a cup of coffee."

"That would mean more if I actually _could_ get coffee." Adam said dryly. "Or if there was anything I'd want to do with it."

"You catch on fast." Samus chuckled, leaving.

_**So this place is Crateria.**_ Ridley guessed shortly after, as Samus made her way through the caverns, blowing away replicants by the dozen. _**We've already been to Brinstar, Maridia, and some frozen hellhole that they probably threw in for kicks. That leaves Norfair and SR-388, right?**_

_In short, yes._ Samus confirmed, heading towards where Adam had indicated the robot would be on her map. It was off the official section, of course, so she went towards where she had found a red hatch that had been closed on her first visit. _Sectors 3 and 1, respectively. What's your point?_

_**My point is, if this is supposed to be a fake Zebes, then where's Tourian?**_ Ridley asked bluntly. _**Can't be a party without that.**_

_Shit._ Samus slapped her visor. _How the fuck did I miss that one? I must have sold my brain on F-Bay._ Tourian had always been the heart of Space Pirate operations, the only section of Zebes that wasn't a natural environment. Cold steel and boiling chemicals were its features, and high-ranking Pirates its only inhabitants aside from their Metroids, who were kept there with Mother Brain, the only one who could control them. _I hate to admit it, but you've got a point, scaletail. There wasn't even anything looking like it on the Main Deck._

_**Doubt they intended the trainees to go up there at any time during their 'missions', anyways.**_ Ridley reminded her. _**Secret passages between sectors, after all. If there's a Tourian, the only way to get to it will be from one of these.**_

_And you figure it's in here?_ Samus realized, then cursed as she fell through a weak section of ground and landed in a room below. In a pool of neck-deep water. "Shitweasels." Climbing out of the stagnant muck, she kept going. _I guess both Tourians did have Crateria access, even if I got to the first through Brinstar. Makes the most sense that it would be here, yeah._

_**Not only that, but Macintyre**__**knows it.**_ Ridley predicted. _**Awful convenient for the SA-X to be lurking around now of all times, isn't it?**_

_It's set traps before._ Samus protested, then gave in. _Still, you might have a point. All right, I'll look around while I'm here._ _Damn!_ In the low light, she had slammed her head into a Zebes bull, which was not an irritable bovine, but a floating, biological sack of caustic gas. Snarling, Samus killed it, then continued down into the gloomy caverns. _Might as well, anyways; the robot should be around here, but I'm not seeing it. I hate the ones that won't stay still._

_**Over there!**_ Ridley urged her. _**Look, straight ahead!**_

_Huh?_ Frowning, Samus walked over. The artificial rock suddenly ended, replaced by a plain steel hallway, undecorated save for black-and-yellow hazard markings, along with numerous "Caution" and "Keep Out" signs. The hall was blocked shortly by a metal gate with tiny viewing slots. Through them, Samus could see a flashing node hanging from the other side on the ceiling. _Standard security gate. Have to hit that thing on the other side to open it. Figures that for once, I don't have my Wave Beam by this time._

"Warning." The station's computer suddenly spoke, as a mechanical eye appeared above her. "No entry without authorization. Warning. No entry without authorization."

"God, if I have to listen to that repeat forever, I'm going to go nuts for real." Samus muttered, turning around. "Out of here." Climbing back up through the caverns, she suddenly paused, hearing crashing sounds from above. "There we go! Sounds like it's coming from this way..." Dashing back, she entered the room with the stagnant pool.

A moment after she did, the roof crashed in, and the Security Robot landed in the pool with a titanic splash. The legs were all still undamaged, six of them positioned evenly around it, but the central body was only a few scraps and pieces of metal armor around the plasteel tank containing the organic core. More than ever, it looked like a gigantic brain, and once more, Samus had to fight down the instinctual reaction of furious rage.

_**So that's what it looks like. Eh, I've seen better.**_ Ridley remarked. _**See if you can take it down in five minutes.**_

"Those stupid firebombs won't do much in the water, that's for certain." Samus muttered, then groaned as she saw a pair of bare wires release from the robot. Dropping into the water, they instantly pumped it full of electricity. "Oh, great. _Now_ what?" Glancing around, she saw rungs across the ceiling of the room, and jumped up to grab them. "All right, this works."

The robot was not impressed. Hopping around, it jumped high enough to pass right in front of Samus before falling again. A diffusion missile in the tank covered its surface with frost, but didn't do much to deter it. Pausing, it hunched down, and the weapons hatch on its top flipped up. Instead of firebombs, this time it used something much more deadly; rockets. Four of them.

"You have _got _to be shitting me!" Samus yelled, flinging herself back onto the shore as the missiles crashed into the rungs where she had been. Instantly, the robot was on her, bearing its entire massive right down onto her prone form. Growling, Samus ignored the pain and aimed up, towards the core. A diffusion missile rocked it backwards, and another flipped it back into the water. By the time it regained its footing, Samus was back on the rungs, hitting it again.

_**I get it. Cool it down first, then switch to charged shots.**_ Ridley guessed. _**With the plasma beam, that much heat'll crack it. Temperature shock.**_

_Bingo._ Samus nodded, blowing the last of the core's metal fragments off and dodging another jump. Now, where the robot was moving through the water, it left a trail of ice on the surface that was instantly blown apart by the surging electricity. "That ought to do it." Switching to her beam, she began firing, turning it upon the rockets whenever the robot launched them. Charged shots, like Ridley said, did even more damage to the tank at its low temperature, and huge cracks began to appear in its casing.

The robot, unfortunately, was undeterred by the beating it was taking. Pausing for thought, it released rockets, then jumped at Samus in the same moment.

"Crap!" Unable to avoid both attacks, Samus was hit by the charge, and borne into the water. As she fell, electricity coursed through her. Her suit kept her from frying instantly, but the pain still ravaged her body, and the robot rushed forward, pinning her into the side of the pool. Gasping, choking, Samus saw the ice clearing from the robot's core. Rage rose again, and this time, the pain kept her from the necessary thought process to fight it back.

"Kill the bitch." She snarled, three tiny fangs popping out of her palm. Shoving both it and the cannon into the largest crack, she began firing blindly, while at the same time pulling at the plasteel. "Rip out her guts." Scorching her own fingers with her attack, pain overriding every limit on her, Samus lunged at the brain in the bottle. "Drink her blood!" The edge of the plasteel sliced her hand, but still she pulled, and it came loose. Shoving her cannon into the opening, she kept on firing.

Aware of the massive damage it was taking, the robot tried to pull away, but Samus hung on grimly, pulling herself out of the water and onto the robot's top. It crashed around blindly, trying to knock her off, to no avail. Even when the rocket launcher popped up, Samus simply shot them all in less than an instant, detonating them in their bays.

"Pull out every single one of those ass-ugly fangs!" Howling now, Samus continued pulling its casing apart with raw, frenzied strength and cooking the brain inside with beam fire. "Pound them all into her eye, slowly, one by one!" Dropping inside the remnants of the tank, she kept attacking, kicking out the remaining casing before hurling herself onto the pulped meat. "Shred everything that's left!" Several times, she almost shoved her palm-fangs into the bloody mess, but something always held her back, and with a snarl, she returned to her rampage.

Explosions around her almost returned Samus to her senses. Reacting on instinct, she jumped up and out, clinging to the rungs overhead. Looking down, she saw the robot die, and the smashed remnants of the organic core flop out, useless without their body. Shimmering, they vanished, and a Core-X rushed her from the robot's remains, single eye firing beams. The sight of it returned Samus to her senses, and she dropped onto the robot, using it as a foothold to keep out of the water while she fired, then jumping to land when it approached.

Half-a-dozen missiles later, the inside of the Core-X was released, and Samus absorbed it, then quietly looked back at the robot, feeling the energy from the monster heal massive wounds she hadn't even been conscious of.

_**It was her, wasn't it.**_ Ridley said quietly. _**Ma Brain. She killed Matrix.**_

_Yeah._ Samus looked away. _But that's in the past. It's done. She's dead too. Way dead. And I've got a job to do._ Wishing she believed her own words, she examined her systems. _Wave Beam. Just what the doctor ordered. Let's see what's on the other side of that gate._

* * *

The Wave Beam was a particularly strange upgrade which caused Samus' shots to pass through solid matter that it couldn't burn for several yards before dissipating. On the security gate, it worked like a charm, and she strolled through, ignoring the blaring alarm.

"Map says I'm not in Sector 6 any longer." She noted quietly as she walked. The rooms were dimly lit, so she turned her headlamp off, but what she saw wasn't encouraging; nothing but strange machines lying around. "Sector 0. Restricted Area. You were right again, pal. This is their take on Tourian."

_**Well, I'm glad to be that good, but I wouldn't just leave it at that.**_ Ridley said. _**There's got to be something they're actually doing here. Something the chatbot didn't want to tell you about.**_

"Yeah." Samus admitted. "What matters is how important it is. If it's just dirty laundry, or something dangerous, I'll still be cranky but I'll probably give him a break. Eventually. But if there's something more..." She fell silent as she continued through a transparent plasteel hall, showing the stars outside all around her. "Okay, this looks cool, but it's a seriously bad id-"

The next room took her breath away instantly, as the secret of the Federation's current plans suddenly became all too apparent.

_**Holy **_**shit.** Even Ridley was stunned. _**No **_**fucking**_** way.**_

"Way." Samus muttered absently, staring around her. Four plasteel tanks covered the side walls, and a cylindrical fifth took up the center of the room, all of them stretching up hundreds of feet. Inside all of them, dozens of tiny shapes drifted around aimlessly. Familiar shapes. Shapes that Samus was all too familiar with, but had believed she would never see again. Walking forward, she stared into the central tank, just to be sure. It was no illusion. They were real.

Bodies like jellyfish, mostly slime, with transparent skins deceptively more durable than a battlecruiser's hull. Veins inside connected to the only recognizable organs, a cluster of red spheres at the base. Twin fangs dangling from the bottom, each able to punch into a full Gravity Suit like it was paper and drain life energy at a frightening speed. These were only the size of Samus' head, juveniles, but they were no less frightening for that. The Galactic Federation had been so terrified of their abuse at the hands of the Space Pirates, they had sent her in to exterminate the entire species.

"Metroids." Samus whispered, hand against the central tank. "They have Metroids here. How?"

_**Two possibilities.**_ Ridley replied. _**Either they made a trip to SR-388 themselves before they sent you in. Or they kept a sample of Matrix's cells on hand, and finally managed to crack cloning technology. Even Kraid never managed that one, though, so...**_

"No, that's what they did." Samus shook her head. "They had some of Matrix's cells, all right. That's what they used on me." On the other side of the glass, the baby Metroids were drifting towards her curiously, but didn't express any of the predatory behavior that all of their kind except one had always regarded other life with. "I don't believe this. This is insane."

_**Believe it, sister.**_ Ridley said harshly. _**It's here. You can deal or you can die. Which is it gonna be?**_

"Don't have to ask me that." Samus snapped, recovering. "Let's see what else is here." Continuing on into another room, she walked up staircases and catwalks, past several more tanks. These each contained only one Metroid, dead and suspended motionlessly for view. "A fully grown larva." She noted, passing one that looked like a human-sized version of the juveniles with four fangs. "And there's an Alpha." The next was flipped, its slime-body converted into an underbelly, with an armadilloid carapace above, bristling with claws and a headhorn that functioned like the fangs. Two compound eyes seemed like an afterthought.

_**We never did manage to get any but the larvae,**_ Ridley mused. _**It was tricky enough nabbing those. Wonder what would have happened if we had.**_

"This is getting to me enough without imagining that, thanks." Samus said, passing the next form, which added insectoid limbs to the claws, multiplied the horn and eyes by three, and finished with an elongated armor protrusion like a nose. "Gamma, there. And over here, a Zeta." The next form actually stood upright, the limbs further altered into four legs and two arms. The face had become an elongated head, the horns disappearing and replaced by a fang-filled mouth. "And in the next room, we have..." All that awaited her was more babies. "Looks like they never got an Omega or a Queen."

_**That's a great comfort, that is.**_ Ridley replied sardonically. _**If they can clone them, they don't need to make them divide asexually with gamma radiation. That means these ones will grow up fully, instead of halting their development at the first form. **_

"No. They won't." Samus growled. "I'm going to stop it, right here. And then I'm going to fucking _kill_ that computer-what the _hell?_." Below her, there was suddenly a great deal of noise; multiple detonations, accompanied by the breaking of plasteel, a familiar cacophony of hungry screeches, and an even more familiar voice cursing aloud. Before Samus could react, however, the floor collapsed, and amid the rubble, she fell into the first room with the Metroids. Now freed, the terrifying little blobs filled the air, as the SA-X shot wildly.

"Monsters!" The replicant screamed madly, as it fired. "Abominations! You live again! How? _How? _I wiped you out!"

_**Well.**_ Ridley said calmly as Samus fell into the chaos below. _**Hard to see how **_**this**_** could get **__**any worse.**_

"Warning." The station's computer spoke. "Restricted laboratory breached. Sixty seconds to detachment and self-destruct of restricted laboratory."

"You had to say it! You just _had_ to fucking say it!" Samus howled, landing behind the SA-X. The replicant didn't even notice, too busy firing at the Metroids.

"Die die die!" It screeched, Ice Beam freezing them in the air. Unfortunately for it, there were simply too many for it to hit them all, and they swooped down, covering it en masse. "No! No no no no no!"

"Goddammit all!" Samus stared up to the top of the room, where another hatch was now visible. "That had better lead out." The one she had used to enter had been demolished by the SA-X, of course. Ignoring the brutal feeding frenzy, she spun into the air, Space Jumping past more Metroids as they emerged. The infants continued to regard her with nothing more than curiosity before joining their brethren below.

_**They can tell you're a Metroid too.**_ Ridley noted. _**Lucky break. You'd never have made it if they went for you too.**_

"Feel free to shut up any time now!" Samus said testily, making for the hatch. Pausing, she looked back down. The SA-X had been unable to fend off the Metroids, and was now lying still, as they continued to feed. "Well. That takes care of _that,_ at least." Shuddering, she turned away from the sight, knowing full well that it would remain in her nightmares for some time; all that had been visible was a limp hand. Her hand.

Through the hatch, Samus found herself in another plasteel tunnel. Before she could reach the end of it, an airlock slammed shut at the end behind her, and she turned to see the laboratory fall off into space. Since it seemed she was safe, she waited and watched. Once it was clear, the piece of the station exploded in a flare of light, blinding her for a moment. When her vision cleared, it was gone, not even rubble remaining in the stars. Turning without a word, Samus kept on walking, away from the secrets.

"Samus, I really wish you hadn't done that." Adam greeted her the moment she entered a Navigation Room. "This may cost both of us quite dearly, and quite soon."

"One of us more than the other." Samus snapped. "One last chance to convince me not to kill your ass, Fedbot. Otherwise as soon as we're off this station, I don't care what planet we land on, I'm rigging the ship with enough bombs to put a crater in the surface. I'm not the one who fucked up here, buddy."

"Samus." Adam paused for a moment, then continued. "I don't like getting technical, but the deal we made was that I'd tell you what the original plans for this station were. I did that, just like we agreed. This use of Sector 0 was only started several Standard weeks before the X outbreak."

"You-" Samus yelled, then stopped for a moment as well. "All right. You've got me there. But I'm still pissed off that you kept this from me. How the hell did you _think_ I'd respond to the Federation having Metroids?"

"That would be _why_ I didn't tell you, yes." Adam replied, temper showing for a moment before he relaxed. "Look, Samus. The Federation has been working on their Metroid breeding program here, yes. But they meant it for peaceful applications only. Please don't get the wrong idea about this."

_**And if you buy that one, I've got a planet to sell you, too.**_ Ridley added.

"What gets me is that I took this long to figure it out." Samus admitted, calming down as well. "Secret Federation station for black ops projects they want out of the public eye. No morals whatsoever about what they do here. Metroid cells that they're keeping around just for the hell of it. And Sector 1, perfect for raising the buggers in. Can't keep 'em in those tanks once they start growing up."

"Exactly. That was what drew the eye of certain members of the Federation, once the program had been initiated." Adam agreed. "Sector 1, SRX, was perfect for the development of Alpha, Gamma, Zeta and Omega Metroids. An experimental technique for accelerated growth proved successful, resulting in the deceased examples you saw preserved back there."

"But they were careful to only speed-age one at a time, and before they could get an Omega, the X broke out." Samus guessed quietly, then suddenly lurched forward, slamming her fists against the monitor. "You fucking tinbrain, don't try and bullshit me! Peaceful applications? For trying to get an Omega Metroid out of a larval one in only a matter of days? Sure, and I'm the fucking Pope!"

"There's nothing I can say, is there?" Adam replied after a moment. "You're convinced I was a part of this, rather than simply being aware of it. You've already decided."

"Save the self-pity for someone who cares." Samus drew back, and thought for a moment. "All right, how about this. The SA-X released all of those Metroids. Did any of them get away, and escape onto the station, before I got out? I didn't see."

"No. However, there is one Metroid already present." Adam answered readily. "It was released into Sector 1 shortly before the X outbreak. I was unaware of that when we first arrived, but learned of it shortly afterwards. The X were not able to enter the portion of Sector 1 it lived in until you unlocked Level 4 hatches, so they were unaware of its existence as well."

"So it's been out long enough to grow up." Samus shook her head. "Damn, am I glad they don't look at me like lunch any more. All the same, I'm going to find that thing and kill it. Five bucks says I'll come out in Sector 1 from here. Shouldn't take me too long."

"I wouldn't suggest that." Adam said readily. "The X are now aware of the Metroids. There is already another SA-X on its way to do that, I would wager."

"Nah, that's one good thing. The bitch is dead-wait." Samus blinked, his words processing. Slowly, her lips peeled back in a snarl. "What do you mean, _another?_"

"Samus." Adam actually sounded surprised. "Oh, come on. Don't tell me you didn't have a suspicion about _that._ You know how quickly the X reproduce. You specifically told me you hoped that killing their strongest monsters would keep them from making more, once they saw that those had failed. Didn't you even think about the most dangerous one of all?"

"How many." Samus forced herself to say it, cold and blunt. "How many are there."

"At the moment, there are ten of them." Adam explained. "Our time on this station is drawing to an end, obviously. Samus, I'd love to continue this conversation, but to put it bluntly, that would be suicidal. Get out of there, and quickly. If you stay there, the SA-X will find you while searching for the other Metroid. Leave them to fight it out, and get back to the ship. We'll discuss our plan of action from there."

"This isn't over, computer." Samus threatened, walking away. "For you, me, or the Feds."

_**Oh, sure, forget me. Old Ridley doesn't matter.**_ Ridley grumbled mockingly.

"I'm not sure how HQ is going to take this, honestly, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Adam sighed. "For now, get back here. I'll see you soon, Samus."

"You say that like it's a good thing." Samus said as she departed. "I wouldn't, if I were you."

Riding an elevator up, Samus took a moment to gather her thoughts. _Shit. This does it. If the Federation's breeding Metroids, I can't afford to wait any longer. This won't stop them; they've still got cell samples they can clone elsewhere. No way to wipe those out._

_**So I was right.**_ Ridley urged. _**The Feds are just as bad as we are. At least, the people in charge are. That Renpou guy. **_

_It's looking that way._ Samus admitted reluctantly. _I'm going to have to take steps. Not to mention figuring out what the hell I'm going to do about _you.

_**I've got a few ideas, but I doubt you'd like them.**_ Ridley chuckled. _**More importantly, though. What about the chatbot? Are you seriously going to hang on to him?**_

_I don't like it._ Samus admitted, leaving the elevator. _He gets to me, I'll admit. Acts a little like my old boss, Malkovich, but not enough. He's still just a computer, and one I can't really trust. Problem is, we made a deal, and he was right-he _did_ hold up to his end of it. I don't _like_ it, but when I make a deal like that, I hold up my end as long as the other guy does. _

_**Huh. Honor among thieves, or something, then?**_ Ridley sighed. _**Well, it's your ass.**_

_Until it gets blown up._ Samus added wryly, heading out into the secret half of Sector 1. _Okay, we were wrong about something. _Now_ we're in Tourian._ The décor was exactly like Mother Brain's control centers had been, a maze of metal piping and ledges interspersed with pits of acid. Climbing and jumping around, over and through the lot, Samus blasted anything in her path quietly and mercilessly. _Can I ask you something?_

_**Can't exactly stop you.**_ Ridley answered. _**Whether I **_**answer**_** or not depends on what the question is.**_

_It's one I doubt you'd tell me normally, but we're kind of in special circumstances here._ Samus said with a wince as she entered a hallway and found a pair of familiar faces waiting for her. "Oh, this is _just_ what my day needed." Two Zebesian Space Pirates stood calmly in the middle of a hall, their armored carapaces golden and shiny.

_**Now **_**there's**_** some familiar faces. Ezer and Garan.**_ Ridley said cheerfully. The two Pirates had been his number-one lackeys, dull-witted but with extreme physical ability even before the experimental cybernetic armor had been grafted onto them. At his orders, they had massacred an entire space station full of scientists, and Samus had paid them back for that on her second mission into Zebes. _**Guess they were loaded onto the same ship as me. Ma was going to actually revive them? Their dad must have really made her happy.**_

_Which leads into my question. Just how strong would you figure the Pirates are right now?_ Samus swore quietly as the two Zebesians began firing dozens of beams on automatic fire, and began running and dodging while closing the gap. "This is going to be a hassle. At least they're not sentient."

_**Weakpoints in their armor at the base of their skulls.**_ Ridley pointed out. _**And the fact that you seriously think I'm going to answer that has me curious. Why would I?**_

_Thanks._ Samus grunted as the first replicant launched a flying kick at her head. Fortunately, she was familiar with the move, and ducked under it before rising and firing a charged shot into the back of its head. For a moment, it looked like there was no effect, and then the replicant toppled over, smoke rising from its skull, before dissolving into X. Snatching them up, she turned to the other. _Because I'm considering doing something really stupid, and it concerns you._

_**Now **_**that's**_** interesting. Hell with it.**_ Ridley said. _**Orders in the event of losing Ma Brain again were to load her corpse and the four of us onto five separate battlecruisers. Each of them was then to take off to a different portion of space, with our remaining forces divided evenly between them, and attempt to regroup-and, in time, revive us from the dead. Obviously, the **_**Heart Of Norfair**_** won't be doing that.**_

_Obviously._ Samus agreed, killing the other replicant. _So that leaves four._

_**Right. This soon after Zebes, I doubt any of them will have a Lord or Ma back up yet, so the one in charge will probably be her personal assistant**_. Ridley continued. _**Zeral, Ezer and Garan's dad. He won't be able to do much, though; they'll be scattered all over the place, without any real center of power.**_

_Think I met him once,_ Samus remembered, continuing on over more acid pits. _Cunning bastard. Yeah, okay. So your gang won't be able to do much to the Feds for a long time. Fuck it all._

_**So, what's this something stupid?**_ Ridley inquired. _**You've got me curious about it now-hey, check that out.**_ An eye guardian awaited at the end of the acid. _**Macintyre didn't say anything about something you needed to kill here.**_

_Nope. But now I'm curious about _this_, whatever it is. _Samus blew the guardian away and walked in. _Besides, another Core-X is always good._ The room was much larger vertically than horizontally, and contained nothing but more complicated machinery, and one other inhabitant. In addition, it was swelteringly hot, much moreso than the rest of Sector 1. Looking down, Samus narrowed her eyes, then jumped off the entry ledge to land in front of the enemy.

"Good evening, Samus." The Ridley-X replicant greeted her, voice identical to the one in her head. "It's been a while." Crouched in the back of the room, wings folded and foreclaws on its knees, it regarded her calmly, a space dragon the size of a horse. Unlike the original Ridley, its scales were clean and unscarred by a lifetime of combat.

_**You know, I'm really not surprised by this.**_ Ridley commented quietly. _**To be honest, I've kind of been expecting it for a while. Of course, I'm still rather pissed off, but it could be worse.**_

_Glad to see you're being realistic about this._ Samus thought before regarding the replicant. "Hi, X. It hasn't really been that long, because you're not the real thing. How about you quit trying to psyche me out, huh?"

"Now that's just rude." The Ridley-X grinned, baring hundreds of fangs. The light above was strangely red-tinted, making the teeth appear almost blood-dyed. "Come now. This form was a lucky bonus for us; it's the only one we've found as formidable as your own. You could show a _little_ respect."

"Boy, are _you_ in the wrong line of business." Samus snickered. "You want respect, run for political office. I'm here to kill your ass. Why waste time with niceties?"

"Well, if you insist." The replicant brought a claw up and tossed an empty syringe onto the floor. "But physical prowess is not all that this one gave us. Knowledge came with it as well. Certain chemicals produced by his associates are quite _fascinating._" In the red light, he began to expand, flesh and bone stretching nightmarishly longer, taller, larger.

"Sys-gro." Samus muttered, recognizing the symptoms of Kraid's personal supersteroid. "You were Kraid's buddy. He told you how to make it."

_**But I never used that crap. Not myself.**_ Ridley seethed. _**Drugs? On **_**my**_** body? Scratch being calm. You're planning something to do with me, I know. You want me in? **_**Fuck**_** this**_** shit**_** up, and I'll make you a deal, whatever it is.**_

"Done." Samus blasted a diffusion missile into the monster's jaw, and followed it up with several more uncharged explosives. "You're going down, ugly."

"I'm sorry." The Ridley-X's giant claws shot out, snatching the followup missiles out of the air. "Was that supposed to hurt?" Screeching with laughter, it flapped its wings, and rose into the air, larger than the Nightmare had been now. "Come, Samus Aran! Your greatest nemesis shall finally triumph over you!"

"Fuck that." Samus gazed up at it for a moment, both of them bathed in red, then followed it into the skies. "You're nothing, big boy. Nothing compared to the real thing. Nothing to me. Just another replicant to kill. You're already dead, X. You just don't know it yet. My job to educate you."

"Is that so?" The Ridley-X's eyes bulged madly, as its maw swung open and fire emerged in sheets. "Burn, abomination!"

"You all keep calling me that. I don't think you know what it means." Samus spun and danced in the air, Space Jump ability carrying her in directions and arcs actual flight could never manage. Some of the fire found her, but she bore it calmly, as most swept past. Another diffusion missile was blasted away, and with an annoyed grunt, she switched to her beam. At least when the waves of cold swept over her, the fires were doused.

_**Good idea,**_ Ridley noted. _**With the Wave Beam, it'll phase through him instead of just burning in. With that much mass, it'll do a lot on its way.**_

"That's the plan!" Samus glared up at the shrieking monstrosity. "Gonna take a shitload to bring it down, though. You were bad enough already."

"You talk nonsense!" The replicant gloated. "Has your mind finally snapped, Metroid? I'll put you out of your misery!" Suddenly stopping its wingbeat, it crashed down upon her.

"Nice try!" Dodging out of the way, Samus fired into its back, smiling as it screeched, the blast emerging from its chest. "You clown. You think bigger is better? You're more unwieldy than a hovertruck. I could slaughter you in my sleep!"

"Is that so?" Whirling around, the replicant charged back up into the air. As Samus dodged again, a claw shot out and slammed into her, ramming her into a wall. Before she could struggle free, it whipped up, then threw her down like a ball into the floor. She bounced. Twice.

"Okay, new plan." Samus groaned, peeling herself out of the dent. "Don't let you cop a feel any more."

_**Funny. Whore.**_ Ridley snarked. _**But you've got a point. I wasn't so much about muscle, but Sys-Gro changes that up.**_

"I noticed!" Diving out of the way of the replicant's landing, Samus fired a charged shot over her shoulder before taking to the air again. From the screech, she guessed she had aimed correctly, and whirled around in midair to see the Ridley-X rushing her like a hovertrain.

"Burn, Samus Aran!" The monster bathed her with flames once more before snatching with both its foreclaws.

"Tried it already. Not my thing. Sorry." Diving past both claws, she rushed into the monster's open mouth. Before it could respond, she blasted half a dozen missiles down its throat and flipped backwards a moment before the jaws slammed shut. "That's how I took Kraid. Bastard's skin was as bad as a Metroid's on the sys-gro, but he couldn't keep his big mouth shut." Once again, the ice diffusion put out the fires, keeping her burns to a minimum.

"Is that supposed to impress me?" The Ridley-X roared, finally bringing its most threatening weapon into play. A Drakar's prehensile tail was segmented, armored, and tipped with a massive spearhead. Whipping around to build up momentum, it stabbed at Samus, missed, and came out again without pause, then again, and again.

"Nope. Wrong. Sorry. Try again! No biscuit! Oof!" Samus taunted the replicant, then grunted in pain as it scored, stabbing into her arm and smashing her into a wall. Before it could follow up with a grab, she sprung away, over its head. The tail followed her, and she paused for a moment in the air before slipping aside at the last moment. It shot past, straight into a light fixture.

"YEEEEARRRGH!" Screeching, the Ridley-X spasmed as electricity coursed through its body, pulling its tail back and flopping onto the floor, a smoking mess.

"Got Draygon that way. Should be careful what you do with weapons like those." Samus continued jumping around above it, firing charged shots down into the head. When the replicant rose suddenly, she was ready for it, and fell back, landing on her feet below and behind it.

"Got you!" The Ridley-X laughed, its tail pointing straight downward and shooting back and forth at a frenzied pace while its wings carried it backwards towards Samus.

"Shit!" Samus tried to take to the air, but she was too close to the wall, and she slammed into her enemy's wings, which knocked her back down. A moment later, the jackhammer tail punched her into the ground. Again and again, it slammed in, punching her into the floor with enough force to create a dent shaped like her body, and gouging into the suit's reduced armor.

"Die, monster!" The Ridley-X screamed at her. "You don't belong in this world!" It paused for a moment, then added, "Richter Belmont, _Castlevania_ season 10."

"Okay, that's just disturbing." Samus grunted painfully, firing a Diffusion missile up to knock the tail away. "An X quoting holovids. I guess some things _do _carry over." Before it could strike again, she rolled out from under the replicant, and rose up into its face, delivering a mighty uppercut into the jaw. Rattling its skull, she proceeded up, dodging the grasping claws and flying up above its head. Halting, she dropped down onto the beak, and punched her beam cannon straight into one crazily rolling eyeball before firing a charged shot.

"Arrrgh!" Hissing, the replicant snatched her off, and began squeezing, crushing her in its claws. "Enough screwing around! You're dead, Aran!"

"On second thought, I preferred the holovid quotes." Samus snapped, forcing her cannon out of the claws and firing one ice Super after another into the monster's bony chest, point-blank. "At least those weren't cliches." Repeated trauma to the chest caused the beast's claws to spasm involuntarily, just as it always had with the real Ridley, and Samus didn't waste a moment before blasting up and shooting out the replicant's other eye. "Going for the eye was how I offed Phantoon. Obvious weak point, really."

_**And that's one reason I never went with that shit.**_ Ridley chortled as the replicant thrashed around furiously. _**The bigger you are, the bigger a target the soft parts are. Looks like my species has a particular issue with the eyes on that stuff. Amateur.**_ He paused. _**Season 10 **_**was**_** one of the best, though.**_

"I've had about all of this I can stand." Samus said to nobody in particular as she circled around the replicant, continuing to fire charged shots through its body, concentrating on the torso where the organs would be. Blinded, it could only breath fire everywhere and lunge wildly, and that wasn't enough. Dodging most of the flames and all of its physical strikes, she pumped beam fire into the replicant until something gave.

"Damn..." Croaking, the Ridley-X began spurting fire from its wounds as well as its mouth, then from its nostrils and eyes. Squinting, it somehow managed to locate Samus, and grabbed her out of the sky one last time. Before it could crush her, however, its claws fell limp, only holding on out of reflex. "You got me. Nice job, Samus." Grinning, it exploded violently, and a shelled Core-X flew out of the remains, knocking Samus flat.

_**A scrapper, I see. More than just my sense of humor rubbed off.**_ Ridley noted. _**Not bad, I guess. Still, it belongs dead.**_

"Damn straight." Samus rose, and circled the X until her missiles had blasted the shell away. "And _that_ was how I beat the real Ridley, X. By just plain-out being _better._" Reaching up, she took the X in her hand, and drained it into nothingness.

_**Think you'll get memories?**_ Ridley wondered. _**They didn't kill me after all. Just found my corpse in cold storage.**_

"Fifty-fifty. Let's hope not." Samus waited a moment, then relaxed. "Nothing. Good. But I did get my Screw Attack. That's the last thing I really needed." She clenched her fist. "Tempting as it is to wait for a SA-X to show up, let's get out of this dump. We've got things to do."

_**That's right. You said you had something stupid in mind.**_ Ridley remembered. _**Let's hear it.**_

"Regardless of what happens with the computer, there's one thing I want to do." Samus explained as she rose through a vertical shaft with Zebesian replicants hanging on all the walls. The Screw Attack covered her body with a field of sizzling energy when she engaged the Space Jump, transforming her body into an engine of destruction. "I need to kill an SA-X. Fair and square, in one-on-one combat."

_**And you want my help in doing so.**_ Ridley guessed. _**I've fought you more times than anybody else. I know the little tricks to your style. The patterns, the blind spots, the instincts you rely on. The same ones the SA-X will use in a straight-out fight. It doesn't have your knowledge, but it has your abilities. And it doesn't care if it dies, so it'll be more reckless. Even with your suit back at full capacity, its armor is heavier. You've got ice missiles, but that won't be enough to give you an edge. That about what you figured?**_

"Basically." Samus agreed as she emerged into the SR-388 environment, then narrowed her eyes. Before her on the ground was a transparent shell, cracked and empty, in the shape of a Metroid's body. "That Metroid the computer said is out here. It's grown into Alpha stage, at least." She shook her head. "As I was saying. I know very well you're not going to just give this one to me freely. But I think I know what your price is going to be. If you've got any ideas about it, let's hear them."

_**Skip right to the point, why don't you?**_ Ridley chuckled. _**Yeah, I've got an idea or two. And I do owe you for killing that replicant of me. All right, Samus. We'll make a deal, you and me. I've wanted to do that for years.**_

"And I've held off on it." Samus shook her head, devouring more X to heal herself from the fight. "But it's not up to me, any more. The universe changes, and we change with it." Killing another replicant without looking, she walked on, towards the exit, and the end of the mission.


	11. Chapter 10: Ballad Of Fallen Angels

_**Chapter 10: Ballad Of Fallen Angels**_

"Okay, computer. I'm here." Samus announced herself as she entered the Navigation room at the entrance to Sector 1. The rest of the trip back had been uneventful, aside from finding two more discarded Metroid shells; the beast would be in Zeta form, at the least. Still, she had killed Zetas and worse before, so she remained calm. "Let's talk, then, unless there's an SA-X headed this way."

"There isn't. But we don't have anything to talk about." Adam said calmly. "Samus, we're done here. Come back to the ship, and we'll depart and leave the rest to the Federation. Their task force will arrive within the hour. Let's evacuate."

"Are you kidding me?" Samus snorted derisively. "With ten SA-Xs around? You think those stupid robots can take _that_ on without me here? It's going to be a pain in the ass even if I stay around. Don't tell me you don't know how dangerous those things are. And from what you told me about how quickly they're reproducing, there might even be more before they get done. Honestly, at this point, they should really just blow this station away, but I know they won't do that even if their precious Metroids are already gone. That's no excuse to be _this_ stupid!"

"You're correct. The Federation has taken an interest in the X, and the SA-X." Adam admitted. "They believe studying them could be very useful. Look, Samus, we really need to get out of here. We can talk this out once we're off-station."

"Oh, sure. _Study_ the hiveminded, soulless monsters. That's a _real_ great idea." Samus rolled her eyes. "Goddammit, computer. I'm not budging until you spill. What does the Federation seriously think is worth that kind of risk?"

"Very well, if you insist on making this difficult..." Adam sighed. "A risk, you say. You assume that the Federation intends to kill the SA-X. Certain gases have proven capable of incapacitating replicants, if inhaled over long periods of time."

"Then why the fuck-" Samus started to yell, then calmed down, thinking. Slowly, the truth dawned. "You have total control of the station by now, but you didn't when we first got here. Now, you can flood the airvents in the entire thing with knockout gas. That's the real reason we came here, isn't it? I was a decoy. A stopgap, to buy time. You were the one the Federation really counted on..." Her eyes flew open. "Wait one goddamn second. Did you just say they want to take those SA-X _alive?_"

"The Federation believes them to have a great deal of potential." Adam's voice took on a tinge of doubt. "Not just them, but all of the X."

_**Told you,**_ Ridley cackled.

"You're serious. You're actually serious about this." Samus whispered, staring at the monitor. "You actually think they'll pull it off."

"It will be difficult, yes. And the Federation understands that you'd prefer not to get involved." Adam explained. "That's why they're asking you to leave this station."

"This was it, wasn't it." Samus continued, more to herself than to Adam. "Renpou planned this from the beginning. He wanted an X replicant of me. To somebody totally insane, that would be even better than a training course."

"I suppose there's no harm in explaining it at this point." Adam kept talking as well. "The Federation knew you would want to kill the SA-X, so around the time that you started regaining enough power to actually be capable of doing so, they stopped sending their upgrades. They actually have the Plasma Beam and Wave Beam completely reproduced, but withheld those to keep you from engaging the SA-X. Instead, you managed to restore those by yourself."

"Yeah, they didn't send me a Gravity Suit either." Samus narrowed her eyes. "Just those funky Diffusion Missiles. Even so, it was a bit weird how they didn't tell me to pick those up."

"By the time they decided it would be too risky for you to have those as well, somebody had already sent the data." Adam explained. "You tracked the upgrade down. I was actually impressed, but of course I couldn't say so at the time-"

"No, this is all bullshit!" Samus shook her head. "None of this matters now. Call up the Feds, computer! There's got to be some way to convince them to call this off!"

"Nothing you or I can say or do will do that, Samus." Adam told her quietly. "Renpou and those like him have total autonomy in the Federation, and zero accountability. He has no intention of stopping this."

"Renpou." The name penetrated Samus' mind. "Who is he, Adam? Who is he really?"

"Renpou has no official title, identity, or name. Legally, he doesn't exist." Adam explained. "He and his colleagues are known simply as troubleshooters. By now, it is safe to say they have total control of the Galactic Federation from behind the throne. Should one of them be publicly exposed, he is simply given a new face, voice, and name. They are unstoppable, and nothing will convince them to turn back now."

"Fools." Samus bowed her head. "All it will take is just one mistake, just one X getting loose. As soon as they get the chance, they'll spread across the entire universe. They'll be no way to stop them, nothing we can do to contain them, once they get out. It'll all be over. Galactic civilization... hell, in time, all life _everywhere_, will fall to them. What they're doing to their home planet shows that much. The only thing they care about is multiplying. They can't comprehend anything more than that."

_**No.**_ Ridley disagreed calmly. **_You're not going to let that happen. No matter what you have to do. Even we Pirates wouldn't want that, either._**

"Samus, I can't allow you to do anything drastic." Adam said. "You've become too unstable. I'm sorry about this." The hatches leading out of the room both locked themselves. "You'll have to stay here until the Federation team arrives. I was ordered to confine you if necessary at this point."

"I'm unstable? _Me?_ While you're taking orders from that old _lunatic_?" Samus yelled. "Open these hatches, damn you..." She paused, breathing deeply, then continued. "Listen to me, computer. We can stop this. This station was going to self-destruct before. If we let it happen now, we'll at least be able to destroy all of the SA-X."

"It's not my place to oppose Federation policy any more than it is yours, Samus." Adam argued. "What's more, if you were to directly defy them, you would become a criminal yourself, just like those you hunt for a living. I can't let you do that."

"You're not a fool. Don't let them do this." Samus pressed, closing her eyes. "Can't you see what will happen, Adam?"

"That's the first time you've referred to me by my name intentionally." Adam replied after a moment. "Why was it so hard? I'm guessing you knew somebody else who went by that name?"

"Yeah." Samus exhaled, sitting down on the floor. "A friend of mine. Commander Adam Malkovich. My previous connection with the Federation, and a good man-the best I've ever met in this stinking galaxy. Somebody killed him before I made my first trip to SR-388, and I've been trying to find out who ever since, without much luck."

"A friend, you say." Adam repeated slowly. "Well, Samus. If your friend Adam Malkovich were here right now, advising you, instead of me, what would he do?"

"He'd... he'd understand. He wouldn't like it, but he'd understand." Samus answered slowly. "It might be going against the Federation's interests, but Adam knew there were things more important than that, even though he was loyal. He'd help me start the self-destruct cycle."

"Help you, or allow you?" Adam asked. "If he was your Federation liaison, he wasn't exactly in the field, was he? If he was your friend, wouldn't he care about you? Would he tell you to do something that would kill you, or worse, while he sat in a safe command room?"

"He wouldn't like it, but he'd understand." Samus repeated. "He knew. Sometimes, there is no good answer. Sometimes... some people have to die, or worse, in order for others to live."

"You sound like you know this personally." Adam noted clinically, sounding like his old, falsely mechanical voice. "Like he did. Did he ever make that choice with his own life?"

"He did." Samus raised her head, looking up at the ceiling. "Back when it looked like my first Zebes mission was going to end up with somebody's head on a stick for going against Federation policy, he took all the blame. He told me to just stress that I was only a hired gun, uninvolved aside from doing a job and getting paid. That way, the Federation wouldn't come after me, and he'd catch everything that came down the crapper because of it."

"If you had taken the blame, you could have been thrown into prison, or forced into service." Adam realized, voice cracking. "Instead, he put his career on the line. He put your life above his." With one word, he was cold and emotionless; another, strong and knowledgeable. "For you, Samus. Didn't you ever think about that? Was it just for the sake of the universe, knowing that it would need you to defend it? Or was there something more?"

"Maybe." Samus admitted, her own voice taking on a strange tone. "But we had some stupid argument, and I got angry. A few weeks later, he died. And we never got the chance to see what might have been. Maybe that was when I stopped really caring about dying. It was so silly, you know? So stupid. One little argument, one damn gun, and everything's changed. Everything's gone. If that was all it took to destroy so much, what was the point of it all? I don't care what happens to me after we blow this station."

"Samus." Adam spoke calmly now, the mechanical pretenses gone once more. "That's incredibly foolish of you."

"Bastard!" Rising, Samus barely stopped herself from lunging at the monitor. "Where do you get off saying that? What do you know about it, machine!"

"I know that destroying this station wouldn't be enough." Adam continued firmly. "If you want to destroy the threat posed by the X, you'll have to go further than that. You destroyed one planet already, Samus. Are you willing to do it again?"

"I didn't frag Zebes." Samus replied slowly, surprised. "The Pirates blew it up themselves to try and wipe me out in the process. What are you saying, Adam?"

"That's not the only point." Adam continued. "You can't die here, Samus. That would only accelerate the galaxy's ruin. The Federation is out of control. Even if you destroy the X, they still have Metroids. You're the only one who has any chance of stopping them now. _Live_, Samus. As long as you live, Adam Malkovich's memory lives too. And fight them, as long as you have the breath to do so. That's what makes you different from him. He was willing to sacrifice everything for the right cause. You would never sacrifice a single thing that mattered, as long as you could fight for it."

"You have a plan." Samus realized. "What is it?"

"If you alter the station's orbit, and cause it to collide with Plant SR-388, the self-destruct detonation would break open the planet's surface and cause the core to erupt." Adam explained. "Thus exterminating the X. But you'll have to start the propulsion sequence now, before the Federation ships arrive. We don't have much time."

"And what happens after that?" Samus pressed. "I know what I'll be doing, but what about you?"

"To quote a lady of my acquaintance, 'luck comes to those who make it.' For now, we've got one last job to do here." Adam said, voice changing once more, taking on a pitch and tone she hadn't heard for years. "Go to the Operations Deck. I'll open up the manual control; this function can't be activated by a computer. Go there, readjust the orbit to collide with the planet, and then let's get out of this floating slagheap. You'll probably run into at least one SA-X en route, so be ready to show them what you're made of. Move quickly, and stay alive. Any objections, lady?"

Samus looked at the screen silently, then nodded once. She didn't speak. She didn't trust herself to. After a moment more, she turned and walked out of the room, taking the elevator up. It was only when she was riding up the shaft that she said something, fully aware that Adam would hear her. "Thanks for staying out of that, Ridley."

_**It wasn't any of my business.**_ The Drakar's spirit replied easily. **_Between you two. You _could_ have asked him to see if there was anything available on the cloning process, though. _**

"The Metroid lab is gone. Doubt it." Samus shook her head. "We'll get to that in due time. Right now, concentrate on what's at hand."

The only stop she made on the way to the top was a detour to the cold storage room, where after some effort she managed to get the back room open. Digging through the pile of Ridley's frozen remains, she pulled out a claw and took it with her. There were barely any X on the way, but those she met she dispatched as ruthlessly as ever. Before long, she was taking the elevator back up to the top deck, the first location she had been told to seek out on the station.

The hatch on the bottom floor leading to the Navigation and Download rooms was totaled, and the opening into the ventilation system Samus herself had blown off was still gaping. Aside from that, the room was undamaged, catwalks still leading up to the top, where an undamaged hatch would lead to the Operations room. Climbing onto the catwalk, Samus then turned to wait, watching the entrance and the ventilation shaft both.

_**This is the perfect place.**_ Ridley advised her. _**The moment she comes in, set a Power Bomb-it won't hurt her, but it'll blind her for a moment. You like jumping the gun on other people, but never expect somebody else to do it to you.**_

A moment later, the SA-X charged into the room at full speed.

"Hold on there." Samus yelled down, doing as Ridley had advised. The Power Bomb went off, and as the SA-X recoiled, she kept talking. "Let's wait a moment and do this like professionals, okay? Get all our talking out of the way _before_ we go at it." Despite the fear she still felt at seeing the replicant, she kept her arm cannon trained on it.

"What would I have to talk with you about, abomination?" The SA-X hissed, but it kept its blaster down.

"Indulge my curiosity." Samus suggested. "Which one are you?"

"I am the first, and oldest." The SA-X said it calmly, without boast or brag. When it wasn't enraged, its voice was exactly the same as her own. "I chased you through Sector 5, but you escaped me there."

"Not Sector 2, huh? Well, that explains something." Samus shrugged. "My invisible friend told me the one I met there was an amateur, and it was. Sector 5's SA-X seemed a little more on the ball, though. You'd been around long enough to pick up a few things by then."

"Meanwhile, you have stayed alive despite all the odds, and restored yourself to nearly the full range of your abilities." The SA-X replied with grudging respect. "But you should know by now that you can't actually beat me. I am the stronger Samus Aran."

"That remains to be seen." Samus challenged it. "We're here to find that out, aren't we? You didn't tell any of the others to come here, even if it would take away even the slightest chance of my victory. You wanted to do this yourself. To prove you're better. I get why you're always so berserk whenever you know I'm around. It's desperation, isn't it? You're just as scared of me as I am of you, because you know better than anyone else just what you're going up against."

"Well, you're right about one thing. You _are_ afraid." The SA-X acknowledged. "I can feel it. You're trembling, original."

"Amateurs think it's all about never being afraid." Samus explained calmly. "Pros know it's about feeling the fear, and doing it anyways."

_**Now.**_ Ridley urged her. _**Charged shot. Missiles are too slow. Try for a knee.**_

Obliging, Samus fired, but the SA-X dodged, and its leg was only grazed.

"So much for talk." The replicant sneered, jumping into the air and flying towards her, covered in Screw Attack energy. "What happened to doing things professionally?"

"That _was_ professional." Samus retorted, diving forward and under it. "Only amateurs play fair. People like us fight to win."

_**Keep it running after you. Don't stand and brawl.**_ Ridley advised. _**You're a hunter. You like to chase and corner your prey, and it will too. It'll get carried away. Spring traps on it, surprise it. Keep **__**it guessing.**_

Silent now, Samus waited for the SA-X to jump off after her, and fired a missile-not at it, but at the floor nearby. The diffusion effect washed over it, and surprised, it paused long enough for her to shoot it again. Cursing, the replicant returned fire, and Samus took several hits before diving into the alcove that used to lead to the Navigation and Download rooms. Inside, she waited only a moment before emerging again, punching the pursuing replicant in the face and following up with a charged shot in the gut.

A Super Missile blew her away, but she landed on her feet, and they collided again, this time both landing punches before separating. Instantly, they launched into the air, both using the Screw Attack. Dodging and weaving through the air, they wove complicated patterns, slamming into each other and then separating, repeating the dance over and over.

_**Watching its movements?**_ Ridley asked. _**You like to make a long jump, then a short one in a different direction. One-two, one-two.**_

_Right._ Samus waited until the replicant made a short jump in her direction, then dropped out of the Screw Attack. As its next long motion carried it over her head, she fired an Ice Super up into it, blowing it out of the sky. Like her, it landed on its feet, and they both blasted. Both grunted in pain, then dashed to the left. After a moment, they both paused and moved right instead. Both made frustrated noises and backflipped onto the catwalk, then exchanged shots again.

Finally, Samus couldn't help it. She began laughing, and after a moment, the SA-X did as well. First an exasperated chuckle, then honest guffawing, finally exploding in maniacal cheer. When they stopped, both were grinning savagely at each other. After a moment of absolute stillness, they both fired again, and both hurdled the shots this time, returning to the skies. Once more, Samus managed to trick the SA-X into taking an Ice Super, but this time it landed on the catwalk, with her on the floor. Cursing, she took several shots before getting onto the same level.

_**It's charging you. Missile!**_ Ridley yelled as she turned around.

_On it!_ Samus replied silently, doing as she had said. Sure enough, the Ice Super stopped the replicant only inches away from her, and it fell to the ground.

"This is a blast!" The SA-X roared happily. "You individual lifeforms are amazing sometimes, you know? Let's take this up another notch!" When she rose, ignoring Samus' fire, she held an unactivated Power Bomb in her hand. It glowed white, and expanded outwards in a spinning shield of energy.

"Forgot about those little tricks." Samus muttered, still firing as the SA-X climbed back onto her level. _Ice Supers won't do any good-that's Ice Beam energy._

_**You never used that one on me.**_ Ridley mused. _**Just Wave and Spazer. Good luck, kid.**_

_Your one-eight-hundred number sucks._ Samus snarked mildly as she jumped up and started to climb onto the catwalk's second level, then swung back down instead. Faked out, the SA-X took more hits, burning away the shield. As soon as it was gone, Samus charged with the Screw Attack, but hurdled the replicant at the last second, firing down. Unfortunately, when she landed, a Super Missile blew her onto her stomach, and she barely rolled away fast enough to avoid the following fire.

The SA-X held another power bomb in its hand now, and this time it glowed yellow. A million tiny energy darts emerged a moment later, surging towards Samus.

_**Power bomb!**_ Ridley screamed. _**Disperse that, or you're fucking **_**dead**_** with half-armor!**_

"I hate Mondays." Samus spat disgustedly as she followed the Drakar's instructions. Even so, several moments of agony passed before the Power Bomb cleared away the attack. When it was done, Samus reacted on instinct, backhanding the SA-X as it jumped her from behind. Her fist slammed into its faceplate, and it staggered for a moment, allowing her to turn and blow it away with an Ice Super. As it flew, both it and her continued to fire, and it grabbed onto the catwalk, pulling itself up. Samus didn't waste a moment, Screw Attacking up after it and crashing headlong this time.

"Surprise." The SA-X used its third Power Bomb Overload, this time combined with the blazing red Plasma Beam. An explosion of fire blew Samus off of it and all the way across the room, bouncing off the far wall.

_**Damn.**_ Ridley whistled. _**Once more, good luck.**_

_Thanks._ Samus snarled.

_**Just kidding.**_ The Drakar chortled. _**Never saw that one before either, but this thing's got a one-track mind. Find out a way to make it move on to the Wave Beam, and it won't do that again.**_

_Easier said than done._ Samus grumbled, but began running around again, dodging and weaving under the catwalks. Now, she stayed at a distance, moving in a different direction immediately every time it charged her. Eventually, the replicant made a frustrated noise and pulled out a fourth Power Bomb, filling it with purple Wave Beam energy and releasing it. Four spheres of electricity emerged, then launched at Samus.

This time, Ridley didn't have to tell her what to do. Launching into the Screw Attack, Samus spun through them, the locus of her personal energy shielding her from the shots. Instead of either hurdling the SA-X or tackling it, Samus deliberately stopped right in front of her. It fired its cannon, but she hit it with a charged shot and an Ice Super, one after the other and both point blank. Growling, the SA-X got back up, then bent over on one knee, breathing and bleeding heavily.

"You're through." Samus told it, quietly and calmly, eyes blazing.

"Not just yet." The SA-X wheezed, smiling. "The Sys-Gro I took before charging in should be taking effect right about now." On cue, she began to swell.

_**Oh, **_**damn.**Ridley swore, but didn't sound angry. _**This is going to be ugly.**_

"I didn't sign on for this-what the?" Samus blinked. The replicant was growing, but at the same time, it began to hideously mutate.

"What the fuuuuu-EEEEEAAAA!" The SA-X screamed as its body distorted. Arms and legs became twisted, gnarled limbs ending in rake-like claws. Above the visor, indigo scales ripped through its helmet, and a myriad of baby-blue eyes popped open. A mouth opened across the now-hulking torso, wide and bristling with fangs, with a bright red tongue slathering out.

_**When I said ugly, I didn't mean metaphorically.**_ Ridley continued. _**Sys-Gro is definitely **_**not**_** recommended for use by mammalian species. Side effects are a bitch. **_

"You don't say." Samus murmured, firing a charged shot. The monster recoiled, then roared, lunging for her. She easily dodged, and fired again, leading it on a merry chase around the room. The mutation had disabled its arm cannon, and it could only try to catch and crush her, something which she knew all too well how to avoid. "Game, set and match, freak."

Half a dozen charged shots landed home without the monstrosity even touching her, and the last one did the trick. Slumping over, the beast fell onto its face and died, hissing pitifully. The remains shimmered and vanished, and out came a Core-X, bright blue and shelled.

"One last meal before I go, then." Samus grinned nastily at it one last time before beginning her missile assault. The X, however, did not fight back, but simply turned away, flying towards the vent she had opened so long ago. "Hey, get back here!" It was no use; the X vanished into the darkness, and was gone. Staring after it, Samus swore quietly. "Fucker."

_**Yeah, yeah. You didn't get to eat yourself.**_ Ridley commented. _**You still won. You kicked its **_**ass.**_** Feeling better?**_

"Yeah. Yeah, I am." Samus admitted, breathing heavily. "All right, then. Let's get back to work." Turning, she flew up to the hatch at the top of the room.

* * *

The change in the space station's orbit took less than five minutes; the computer was surprisingly helpful for once. Adjusting it, Samus confirmed her directives, then smiled as she saw SR-388 come into view in the windows before her.

"Orbit change implemented." The station computer announced. "Six minutes until entering planet SR-388's atmosphere. All personnel evacuate immediately."

_**That's our cue.**_ Ridley said happily. _**Think the SA-Xs will notice **_**that?**

"Even if they do, good luck trying to fix it." Samus replied, running out of the room and towards the lift. "I'd rather not wait around to explain it to them, though. We're out of here."

It was only a short distance to the docking bay, and Samus traversed it without muss or fuss, easily obliterating and devouring the few frenzied X in her path. When she arrived, however, an unpleasant sight awaited her. Her ship was gone. Despite everything, thoughts of betrayal entered her mind for a moment, before she saw what _hadn't_ been there before. The transparent cocoon from a discarded Metroid metamorphosis. One the size of the ship itself.

As she stared at it, it was crushed underfoot by the Omega Metroid itself.

_**Fuck.**_ Ridley summarized the situation.

Omega Metroids were true monsters. Fully bipedal, their backs, limbs and heads were covered in green-and-yellow plated armor that made even an ordinary Metroid's shell look like paper. Their transparent bellies contained the bright red internal organ spheres, with a netting of more armor overlaying. Long limbs ended in two energy-draining claws each, and the equally long face held a circular maw with fangs bristling like a distorted flower. On the sides of the head, eight bright red eyes glowed. The monsters were normally slightly larger than a human-normally. This particular case, unfortunately, was an exception.

"I think I've discovered a flaw in the accelerated growth program." Samus murmured, staring up at the twenty-foot behemoth. Eyes rolling insanely, it stared down at her, then slowly advanced. "Come on, boy. Easy. I'm just another Metroid." For a moment, it seemed like the Omega Metroid understood her, but only a moment. Its left arm raised above her, then slashed down, slamming her into the floor and ripping a gash into her suit.

_**Somehow, I don't think that's going to work.**_ Ridley commented unnecessarily. _**A normal Omega would be rushing its prey. This thing's totally insane.**_

"So much for that idea." Samus grunted, standing up as the Omega Metroid slowly approached. "Okay, big boy. The hard way it is." Unfortunately, a charged shot completely failed to phase it, and it continued to stalk forward. "Oh yeah, no Ice Beam..." Narrowing her eyes, she tried an Ice Super. This caused the Metroid to pause for a moment, but then it kept coming, and she stepped back further to the rear of the docking bay. A diffusion shot gave it pause again, but still it advanced.

_**Those things don't have enough oomph to hurt it!**_ Ridley snarled. _**Let's get out of here!**_

"There's nowhere else to go!" Samus yelled back. "The ship can't just blow a hole in-oh, fuck me." She stared as the Omega Metroid made an impressive horizontal leap and came down right in front of her, slashing down again and brutalizing her further. When she tried to stand again, she slipped and fell on her butt. Looking down, she saw red blood spilling under her feet. "Shit, no..." Around her, the room spun.

At first, she thought it was a hallucination. There certainly seemed to be no logical explanation for the bright blue Core-X emerging from behind her, and hovering above. Despite her expectations, though, it floated down, shimmered, and then took up her own form.

"You have _got_ to be shitting me." The SA-X muttered. "You monstrosities just don't know how to go away, do you, Samus Aran?"

"Ha! That's funny, coming from an X." Samus choked. "The hell are you doing?"

"What's it look like?" The SA-X blasted the Omega Metroid with a charged shot, and it reeled back, shaking its head. "I'm saving the day. Don't get your hopes up-you're next once the only real threat to the Kindred is dead. I'd kill you now if I didn't have to keep me eyes on this one. You're certainly no threat any more." Advancing on it, she continued blasting the titanic Metroid, and it kept retreating.

"That's a funny way to talk to somebody who just beat your ass into the ground." Samus croaked, smiling a little despite herself. "Don't kid yourself. You don't stand a chance against that thing. It's been what, five minutes since you lost your physical form? You can't be back in shape that soon. One hit from that thing will rip you in half."

"Gotta try, right?" The SA-X answered calmly, still shooting it. "I'd rather go down fighting than blow up with this station anyways. We're all fucked no matter what in a few minutes. I'll give you that-you were pretty smart there. Only thing you forgot to think of is the escape plan-_guh!_" Backed up against the far wall, the Omega Metroid had attacked, as Samus had predicted. The SA-X's thicker armor hadn't been completely penetrated like Samus', but it collapsed anyways. "Shit. Of all the times for you to be right..."

"So that's the way it goes?" Samus snapped. "We all just die like that? Fuck that! You're supposed to be me, and you just lie down and die? Get off your ass, you sorry piece of slime! Get up!" Slowly, she forced herself to her feet.

"You can't be serious." The SA-X rose as well, turning its head back to stare at her. "Are you actually suggesting what I think you are?"

"Beats dying like a little bitch, doesn't it?" Samus shrugged, laughing a little. "I don't go down easy, X. Human, Metroid, X. All that's secondary. What comes first is my _name._ Samus Aran. That's who I am, and I never go down easy, no matter what. How about you?"

"You-_urgh!_" The SA-X flew across the room as the Omega Metroid struck it once more. Skidding across the floor, its body shimmered and vanished, returning to its Core-X form. It hovered in the air for a moment, staring at Samus, then turned and began firing beams from its eye, advancing on the Omega Metroid. Somehow, they continued to hurt it, and the Metroid reeled. Samus simply stood, watching, as the X and the Metroid closed.

_**Nice speech. Very moving.**_ Ridley commented. _**Kind of bullshit, though, wasn't it? You can't even hurt it.**_

_No, but she can._ Samus replied. _It got her to keep fighting, didn't it? Long shot, yeah, but it's better than just dying-shit!_

The Omega Metroid had triumphed, cracking the transparent shell open and destroying the SA-X's last means of attack with it. Shrieking madly, it stepped towards its prey. Bright blue slime glowing slightly, the SA-X hovered in the air, then flew away from its enemy. For a moment, it looked like it would escape again, but then it paused, seemingly in thought. Finally, it made its decision, and floated down. Stopping right in front of Samus.

"You can't be serious." Samus whispered, echoing its own words. "Are you actually suggesting what I think you are?"

The SA-X had no mouth left, no method of communicating. It could not speak. It only remained there, silent in front of her, pulsing.

_**Do it.**_ Ridley told her quietly, for once without any trace of humor or enjoyment.

"Bitch." Samus closed her eyes and smiled. "Figures you go out making me owe you one I'll never be able to repay." Her hand came up, and the SA-X didn't flinch, or try to dodge, as she sunk her palm-fangs in and absorbed it entirely.

It wasn't like other X. Not like Core-X, not even like those with memories. It all happened in a flash, in less than a second. She _saw_ it all. Everything the SA-X had ever seen, in its entire life. Waking up in the station's docking bay. All of the deaths it had caused, all those that it sensed, connected to the hive-mind of the X. The overpowering, shaking fear it had felt upon realizing that the real Samus Aran had come for it, come to kill it and all of its kind. She saw the entire mission on the station, through another's eyes, all the way to and through their final duel.

_Feel the fear, and do it anyways._ Her own voice spoke through the storm of memory. _Human. Metroid. X. All that is secondary. What comes first is my name. I am Samus Aran, and I never go down easy, no matter what._

Only a moment after absorbing the SA-X, Samus Aran opened her eyes, her body covered in the familiar colors of her full suit of armor, restored to her. She stood, and glared up at the Omega Metroid before her. And with a savage grin, she blasted it with a charged shot in the belly, and watched it scream from the Ice Beam.

_**How you feeling?**_ Ridley asked.

"Like a new woman." Samus answered calmly. It was true; all the wounds from the fights against the SA-X and the Omega Metroid were gone, healed completely. "How much time we got left?"

_**Minute-thirty.**_ The Drakar answered. _**Think you've got what it takes?**_

"More than." Samus shot it again, and again. This time, when the Omega Metroid fought back, she grunted in pain, but kept firing. The second time it struck, she rolled away, rose, and kept shooting, only grazed. The third time, she raised her arms above her head, and actually braced the descending claws before diving out from under and continuing her own assault.

It was no longer a fight. It was a simple, machinelike onslaught. Samus fired, and fired, and fired some more, over and over again. She didn't bother keeping track of time; she simply destroyed the monstrosity before her. Finally, it took. Screaming, thrashing, twisting around, the Omega Metroid went down, twitched a few moments more, and was still.

_**Thirty seconds. I'd suggest hanging onto the wall, fast.**_ Ridley advised.

"Don't have to tell me twice." Samus replied, grabbing an anchor in the docking bay's wall and hanging on. A moment later, the massive bay doors opened, and the _Matrix_ flew in, hovering above her. The moment the vacuum of space was gone, Samus dashed over and boarded. "All right, Adam! Get us out of here! We've got ten seconds until we enter SR-388's atmosphere!"

"Already going, Samus." Adam replied, as calm as ever in his new-or old-voice. "I'm not quite as practiced at this as you are, but I'm not a total incompetent either. All right, we're clear."

"Keep going. Don't turn around." Samus glanced around at Ji, Ni and little Samus, who were safely strapped into the acceleration couches. "Nobody here needs to see the death of a planet. Not me, or any of the guys." Rushing past them, she entered the cockpit and jumped into the pilot's seat.

_**Spoilsport,**_ Ridley accused her, but didn't press the issue.

"You made it." Falar was in the copilot's seat; it was an odd fit for her body, but not impossible. "Sa's down in the engine room, just in case we'd need him there."

"Good guess. Remember when we paid our bill on Zebes?" Samus grinned. "Guess what."

"Oh, not again." Falar dropped her head onto the control panel. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Keep an eye on ship conditions. Let me know if anything's getting dangerous." Samus explained. "We might need to give the engines a few kicks to make it out of this one. Adam, you'd better have started the run to jump speed already."

"Of course." Adam said calmly. "However, with our current rated maximum, we will be unable to reach jump speed in time to escape the planet's destruction."

_**That sounds like a challenge to me,**_ Ridley said with a snicker.

"Let's do something about that, then." Samus flipped on communications. "Ji, Ni, tell the kid to get up here with his mom and me, then head into the gun capsules, will you? I don't think you'll need to use them, but I'm going to be cutting off life support to half the ship so I can allocate more power to the engines."

"We're on our way, Samus." Ji replied. A moment later, the Dachura chick entered the cockpit.

"Sa, head over to the control panel on the engines." Samus instructed. "There should be a secret panel above there that you can flip up with manual overrides. Once Adam gets us more available power-there we go-dial it up to 130. Actually, make that 135 to be on the safe side."

"If you say so." Sa replied dubiously, following her instructions. "I don't see how putting that up even higher is safer, though."

"It means I'll have a whole second to make the jump instead of half of one." Samus explained.

"Oh, good." The little Etecoon said quietly. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Thank you, Samus."

"Hanging out with me's not for the faint of heart, guys. Sorry if that wasn't clear before now." Samus grinned. "Everybody might as well strap in now. Adam, how are we doing? The ship going to hold together?"

"I predict loss of pressurization in cargo bays in thirty seconds." Adam replied calmly. "Fifty seconds until engine room damage. Jump speed in twenty-five."

"Right." Samus nodded. "We should be in the clear, but as soon as we jump, turn down those overrides, Sa. Unless you all want to be sleeping on the couches."

"I'll make sure to do that, Samus." Sa promised weakly. "If we survive, that is."

"Survive? Ha! This is cake." Samus said cheerfully, strapping herself into her seat. "One time I had to thread Sector X at ten percent over. Now _that_ time, I thought I'd bought it. This has nothing on that."

_**I remember that.**_ Ridley winced. _**Lost an entire fleet chasing you there. To make matters worse, the officer who ordered it died there too, so I didn't even get to make an example out of him. **_

"Jump speed in five seconds." Adam announced.

"Let's go." Samus punched the button, and the starry darkness faded to white. Immediately, the ship's speed dropped, and everybody unstrapped. "Phew. Made it. All right, Adam, put life support back on."

"I take it some things happened on the station." Falar said calmly.

"That's an understatement." Samus shook her head. "Let's get back and meet up with everybody, and we'll talk about it." Heading back into the common room, she waited until everybody else was with her before speaking again. "All right, people. Long story short, I'm in some deep shit. It's probably an understatement to say that the Federation will no longer be signing my paychecks. I'm guessing that once the bounty goes out on my head, it'll be in Pirate Lord ranges."

_**If yours is larger than mine, I'm going to take it as a personal insult.**_ Ridley groused.

"Impressive." Sa whistled. "Seems our suspicions were confirmed, then."

"You could say that." Samus smiled faintly. "Anyways, I'll try to get you all back to your home planets before the Feds start coming after me. Once I do, it might be best if you just disavowed all knowledge of me, ditched your old identities, and tried to forget all this ever happened. For the kid's sake, if nothing else."

"Is that an order, Samus?" Falar asked quietly, she and the others all gazing straight at Samus without blinking.

"What?" Samus frowned. "Of course not. I just think it'd be the best thing for you. If you've got any other suggestions..."

"If you would not mind, we would prefer to stay onboard for a little while longer." Sa explained. "We know you prefer to work alone, but like you said, this is an entirely new ballgame. A crew might help you significantly now."

"Yeah! We can be gunners for real!" Ji piped in.

"We did it before!" Ni agreed. "Before the Pirates caught us! And Sa was an engineer!"

"Already had that panel up as soon as I was down there." Sa shrugged. "But I appreciate you telling me about it all the same."

"And you?" Samus regarded Falar coolly. "Don't tell me you piloted ships for a living."

"I'm afraid not. You'll need to look elsewhere for a copilot." The Dachura admitted. "However, I do have extensive medical knowledge, enough to pass my planet's qualifications for a ship's doctor."

"You don't say." Samus raised an eyebrow. "You all know that you'll likely be branded criminals by the Federation too. There's no going back if you stick with me now."

"Of course." Sa nodded, and his brothers did as well. "They started it, Samus. We just want payback."

"I can understand that." Samus gave in. "All right. We'll be heading to planet Krager to see about getting a copilot, then. After that, you guys know the Far Side better than I do. Where'd the best place be to get this thing remodeled?"

"The Strykan shipyards are the most renowned for good work with no questions asked." Falar replied.

_**I was about to suggest those myself.**_ Ridley agreed. _**Don't forget me, by the way.**_

_I wasn't._ Samus nodded. "All right then. I'm going to go make some calls to some people you'll be meeting soon. It'll probably be a while before we arrive, even at jump speed."

"We'll get some sleep, then." Falar decided, as the chick yawned. "I look forward to meeting your partners, Samus."

"You might change your opinion on that once you get to know them better." Samus replied with a chuckle, heading forward. "All right, Adam. Let's talk turkey. Or should I call you Commander Malkovich?"

"I'd really prefer that you didn't." Adam said quietly. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything." Samus didn't even feel angry about it. She just slumped in the pilot's seat, head bowed. "Why you're you. Why they did this. Why you didn't tell me."

"Let's start with the easy ones." Adam decided, sounding like his old mechanical guise for a moment. "One of the Federation's secret policies has been to make continual uploads of the minds of their most gifted leaders and scientists into computerized forms. This has gone on ever since technology was capable of doing so. I was only one of many, who was judged perfect for this mission. Eventually, if I proved loyal, I would be uploaded into a robot resembling my original form."

"Except you didn't. You sided with me. Eventually." Samus kept her head down.

"Eventually." Adam agreed. "Samus... I've been a fool. I believed what they told me. I have no memory of the last few weeks of my life. After that... argument... at the party. Did we ever get over that?"

"We didn't." Now Samus was averting her eyes for an entirely different reason. "I headed off to finish up the Metroid Prime thing after that, and when I got back, you were dead."

"I see." Adam replied slowly. "The Federation saw the perfect way to turn me against you, then. Not in my original body, of course. But a computer, who could have the last few weeks of his life filled in incorrectly... it was the best chance possible."

"Of course." Samus finally looked up, as the last key slid into place. "They told you I did it, didn't they? That I was the one who killed you."

"And with that incident fresh in my mind, I believed it." Adam sounded like he would be the one looking away now, were he capable. "I was an idiot. More than that, I was privy to the Federation's darkest secrets, ones that I knew would cause you to rebel against them if you knew, and I thought the best course of action to take would be to keep you in the dark. To protect you. Idiocy, and I paid for it. It's too much a coincidence that I died at the perfect time for them."

"They must have been concerned you were growing too close to me anyways." Samus narrowed her eyes. "Bastards. Let me guess; they said they overlooked the incident because I was so valuable to them."

"They told me it had happened in a moment of rage, not premeditated, once you found out how much I had been keeping from you." Adam continued. "And I have to admit, I believed it. I'm sorry, Samus."

"It's possible." Samus admitted quietly. "I don't like to think I could ever have done that, but... I can't be absolutely certain."

"The fault is mine, for not trusting you." Adam said firmly. "Don't blame yourself, Samus. I'm the one who screwed up, back then. I'm not going to do that again. From now on, I'm with you. No matter what. This is a second chance, as far as I'm concerned. I don't intend on wasting it."

"If you're sure." Samus smiled for a moment. "I don't think the others really get how bad this is going to be. If we want to stand a chance here, we're going to have to do almost everything I never wanted to. But it's got to be done."

"Are you sure?" Adam asked gently. "You could follow your own advice. Go somewhere, abandon your old identity, and live quietly."

"No, I can't." Samus shook her head. "That's not who I am. If nothing else, this mess has reminded me of that. Of what it means to be Samus Aran. That reminds me. Now that I know Falar's a doc, I should have her give me a check-up."

"You think absorbing the SA-X might have had an additional effect on your physiology?" Adam guessed.

"Better safe than sorry." Samus shrugged. "For now, though, dial up Horzat. Let's set things in motion."

"That sounds like a good idea to me." Adam agreed, making the call.

"For once, you've made the call at a good time." Horzat said as a greeting once he appeared onscreen. "The place is dead tonight. That probably means you've got bad news, even though you've put yourself back together again."

"Call me Humpty, and you'll be missing your other eye." Samus threatened him casually before becoming serious. "Hate to break this to you since you just got settled in there, but it's on, crab. Big time. Bounty on my head'll probably be up tomorrow."

"Figures." Horzat sighed. "All right, I'll call everybody up and tell them it's go time."

"Tell Welhaam that there's a bit of change in plans." Samus said, glancing up at the ceiling. "I've got a source who'll be calling her up and giving her some Federation codes, although they'll probably be changed soon. Still, they'll be worth a shot. And while she's in the system, tell her I'm going to want her to try to get as much information as she can on the Federation's cloning process. Got a debt to pay off with that."

"So the Feds cracked cloning." Horzat's eye narrowed. "I think I get some of the picture. You gonna let me in on who this source is?"

"Long-ass story." Samus shrugged. "I'll explain it all when I come pick you up. Hope you don't mind playing co-pilot. I've actually got a crew here now, no shitting."

"You? That must be some story." Horzat blinked. "All right, I'll be ready to go. Gotta call my sister-in-law up and tell her to take over running the bar while I 'go on vacation' for a while."

"Sure that's the best thing to do?" Samus asked skeptically. "Feds'll probably come knocking on her door."

"Of course. Never said I _liked_ my sister-in-law, did I?" Horzat chuckled nastily before looking serious. "All banter aside. You okay, kid?"

"Actually, yeah. For the first time in weeks, I think so." Samus smiled. "You know how I get when the heat's on, crab."

"Boy, do I ever." Horzat rolled his eye. "All right, I got work to do. See you when you get in."

"Try not to die first." Samus smirked as the connection died.

"Cloning." Adam said after a moment. "I suppose this has something to do with Ridley."

"Yeah." Samus sighed. "Don't ask me how it happened, but I picked him up from the corpse. Let's hear it for being a Metroid." She shook her head. "I'd really love to explain all that to you, but Falar had the right idea. I need to sack out. We can talk about that after I nap, right? We've already gone over what's important, after all."

"Of course." Adam agreed. "I'll keep an eye out while you do."

_**I'm not important now, huh?**_ Ridley chuckled. _**Guess that's what I get for staying quiet during your confession of true love. Gratitude! **_

"Gratitude is getting you out of my head." Samus muttered as she walked towards the back. "And the sooner that happens, the better." In the stateroom, she took a deep breath, then walked in front of the mirror. Her suit looked back at her, restored to its full form once more. "No more putting it off. Got to find out, one way or another."

She closed her eyes, and steeling her nerves, she commanded the suit to disengage.

* * *

The last detail, of course, took longer than all the others to wind up. A Standard month, as it turned out. Admittedly, most of that time was simply waiting for Welhaam and Adam to get enough information for the computer to feel confident in the process. Once that was done, Samus dropped her crew off to work on another project, then followed Ridley's instructions to find the secret asteroid base they needed. For this, she neither wanted nor needed witnesses. Explaining it to them would have been a risky proposition, and unnecessary as well.

Mother Brain had been no fool. Even Samus knew that, despite her hatred for the Pirate Queen. She'd set up dozens of facilities like this one, at the time of their greatest strength. Ridley had guessed at one that wouldn't be inhabited, and he was right; once he provided the clearance codes, they were able to coast in undisturbed, alone in the cold darkness. From there, Adam was able to instruct her in rebuilding some of the laboratory equipment into a perfect copy of the Federation's new cloning devices.

The claw she had taken from Ridley's corpse turned out to be unnecessary. Falar's checkup had provided a shocking insight; her physiology had changed again. Her right hand still bore the fangs of a Metroid. Her left palm, when freed from the cannon, now bore a different stigma of its own. A patch of glowing, ice-blue flesh, containing the genetic data of thousands of different lifeforms. Including one Drakar, whose genes she had fed into the cloning device, and then monitored carefully as the machine did its work.

Only when the body was completely grown did Samus take the final step. Double-checking all the fail-safes, she opened up a hatch at the top of the cloning tank and reached inside with her right hand, sinking the fangs into the steel-like scales carefully with no intention of feeding. Instead, she thought back to the _other_ function of the deadly ability, that she had only seen once, that had confirmed her belief. Metroids were not evil. They could _give_ life energy, with the same fangs that took it. Matrix had saved her life that way, and now she would do even more than that.

With none to witness but two dead beings, she pushed Ridley's consciousness out and away from her own, and into the vessel he had been promised for his aid.

"Mmmmrrrrgghh." Ridley vocalized through the breathing mask as his eyes flew open, fierce golden light shining through the gel in the capsule. Understanding without need for translation, Samus jumped away from the tank. With a flex of his body, wings and claws and tail all spread out, shattering the tank spectacularly. The breathing mask fell off, and with a triumphant screech, the greatest of the Pirate Lords stood once more. His body was an adult's, but otherwise fresh and new, unscarred by decades of brutal conflict. Still, she would know him instantly on his own home planet.

"Looks like it worked." Samus said calmly, meeting the looming Drakar's eyes. For a moment, they stood there, facing each other, and then she turned around and began to walk away. "We're even, then. Done."

"Indeed we are." Ridley agreed. "Don't get any ideas about coming back here. I'm blowing this joint, in more than one way."

"I wasn't planning on it." Samus snorted. "Get to work, scaletail. Your people need you as much as mine need me. A three-sided conflict is in both of our best interests right now, if either of us want to stand a chance against the Feds."

"That's all, Samus?" Ridley taunted as she reached the doorway. "No goodbyes? Not even a promise to call me? That's harsh, after all we've been through together."

"Ha." Samus paused, then smirked over her shoulder at him. "Fine. Optimus, six Standard months. High noon over GFHQ. Don't stand me up, pirate bastard."

"Deal. I'll be there. But I ain't buying you a drink this time. Hunter bitch." Ridley grinned back, then glanced behind her. "Hey, Adam. Dunno if you can hear me, but if you can, make sure to take care of her, huh? Let her do it herself, and sooner or later she'll get in over her head. And nobody here wants that."

"You, concerned about my well-being?" Samus rolled her eyes. "Please. You just don't want anybody to kill me but you, and you think it's original. Funny from somebody who watches as many holovids as you do."

"Pretty much." Ridley admitted easily. "And you feel the same way, Samus. That's why we worked so well together, back there. You've got your computer buddy, way up there, but no matter how happy he makes you, sooner or later you'll come back to old Ridley for something else. Blood and glory, the thrill of the fight. _That's_ who you'll always be, even if the universe whitewashes you into a hero."

"Thought we agreed talking like that was nasty as hell." Samus snorted. "Don't go getting a crush on me now, asshole."

"Piss off." Ridley waved cheerfully. "And good luck!" Shaking himself dry, the Drakar turned and made for a different door.

Ten minutes later, the asteroid base detonated, leaving no traces of its existence, as two separate ships sped away through the stars.


	12. Epilogue & Author's Note

_**Epilogue: Heavy Metal Queen**_

The day of the attack was an otherwise normal one for planet Optimus and Galactic Federation Headquarters. It rained, but that was nothing new, and everybody went about their work mostly unimpeded aside from a few nasty traffic jams that lasted until noon. This led to some slight irritation on the parts of many, but they dealt with it. Unaware of what would happen, they simply did their jobs, thinking of little more than the tasks at hand and what they would do in the evening once they had clocked out.

Planet Optimus, of course, was protected by an otherwise redundant amount of defenses, both manned and automatic. In addition to regular space patrols by the Egenoid Star Marines, there were thousands of orbital defense satellites, and should a threat be sighted, the Optimus Polar Bases held local defense fleets that could be deployed within minutes. All of this combined to make the Galactic Federation's stronghold seemingly impenetrable. However, the reality of the situation was that anything and everything had flaws, somewhere.

Should the Star Marines have their payroll delayed, they would cease all operations for the late party immediately, although of course they would resume once the matter was cleared up. There were ways to gain access to the defensive satellites as well; despite their best efforts, those running the Federation had not yet managed to eradicate all higher-ups with certain opinions and sympathies. As for local defense, they never imagined an attack on the level that required them would last less than the time required for them to arrive.

And so, the shockwaves ran through the entire universe on one fine day when the skies above Galactic Federation Headquarters opened up, and destruction rained from the heavens along with the water.

"We did it! Caught 'em with their pants down!" Third Captain Gelltor crowed over the comms linking the attacking fleet. "Planetside security's all dragging their asses back at the polar bases! They never dreamed we'd actually charge this place head-on!" The scrawny pickpocket had come a long way in a short time, using his association with Samus to lead up his own small but growing crime family, one with standards.

"Don't get cocky." Horzat snarled. "There's still the defense satellites. Watch your asses for those, and remember, we're here to smash and go. Nobody even _think_ about landing but us, and remember, we're out of here in ten minutes! We don't want to be here when planetside arrives, or this'll be the _last_ time we do this!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Second Captain Welhaam chimed in. "Doesn't mean we can't have fun while we're here! Come on, boys! Light 'em up!" Though she held no official stature outside of her rank in the fleet, Welhaam had made connections in dark corners of the uninet that none of the other officers even bothered trying to understand. However she did it, it seemed that no information was forever safe from her these days.

"That's the spirit!" First Captain Firkgon yelled with unusual fervor. "My men have been waiting for months to see some action! Let's give it to 'em, fellows!" Despite his personality, the aged clan leader was still an Evir. His people comprised a huge portion of the fleet; planet Evir had completely seceded, and the Firkgon regularly entertained their leaders at his underwater palace. The arrangement was likely just as much to take part in the fight as it was over outrage over the Federation's actions, if not more, but nobody complained.

"Guess I can't argue with that." Fourth Captain Hrug growled calmly. "Not usually my kind of thing, but this is one of those days. We can dish it out when we have to." The massive Iz trucker's contribution wasn't as glorious as the others, but no less vital. The deep-space shipping companies, independent in the best of times, had suffered a plague of clumsiness and incompetence recently, "losing" massive amounts of cargo on a daily basis to "pirate attacks" that had become oddly likely to leave the shippers unharmed these days.

"Kids these days." Horzat grumbled, slouching in the seat next to Samus. Light from the beams flashing outside glinted off of the bionic replacements that took up his empty eye socket and missing limbs now, courtesy of the finest black market upgrades available. "Six months without a real fight, and when it finally comes along, they're like they just got some candy."

"Let 'em have their fun. We came here to wreck the joint, right?" Sa's voice came from the engine room. "We're in the clear so far, Samus. How you doing, guys?"

"Got another one!" Ji replied excitedly. "That's five so far!"

"No fair! I only got four!" Ni complained. "No wait, there we go!"

"Do try not to fall out of your seats this time, please." Falar asked them wearily. "It would not be a good idea this time, I think. At all." Her chick chirped in agreement.

"All right, all of you. Keep the ship alive. We'll try not to be long." Samus Aran, hero of the universe, stood up and walked towards the door. "Coming, you two?"

"Of course, Lady." The last member of the crew replied calmly. "There's not much for me to say at this point in time, but I'd like to be there, all the same. Although I still think we should have waited a few more months, and gathered more strength." To the casual eye, he was a human male in his midthirties; only careful inspection would pinpoint him as a top-of-the-line android. He no longer wore the Federation's uniform, but aside from that, Adam Malkovich was just as he had appeared in life once more.

"Yeah, we know, but if we wait any longer he might go down a rathole somewhere." Horzat shook his head. "Bad enough that we can't get a bead on that Renpou asshole. She's not letting him get away too."

"I know." Adam agreed. "Just as long as we don't get careless, or drag it out. You know what you're here to do. Let's do it, and leave. Any objections, lady?"

"Not this time." Samus shook her head, leading the way out of the cockpit and then the ship. "This time, it's not for the money, or for the galaxy, or for the people. This time, it's personal." Hanging from the bottom, she jumped through a broken window thirty stories up. Horzat and Adam followed her with less grace. The hall was deserted, and so she strode down it unchallenged, until she found her target. Blowing the door off its hinges with a missile, she sprang inside, wary of traps.

Commander Mark Todar sat calmly at his desk, waiting for her.

"It's been some time, Samus." He greeted her, ignoring the widespread obliteration occurring just outside the window behind him. Laser fire capable of decimating entire buildings backlit the Federation man, throwing his face into shadow. "You seem to have done quite well for yourself since we last met. An entire fleet of warships at your command, and this is only the military branch of your power. Impressive as always."

"You know me, Todar. I never stop at half-measures." Samus shrugged easily, cannon aimed at his head. "Come on in, boys."

"Ah, mister Horzat." Todar greeted the Zebesian calmly. "My, that all looks expensive. I wonder-" As he saw Adam, his breath caught, actually looking visibly shocked for once. "What. This is impossible."

"Did you really think your people were the only ones capable of creating an android advanced enough to hold a human mind in electronic form, Mark?" Adam smiled a little. "You always did overestimate the Federation's superiority."

"I see." Todar's face remained calm. "Well done indeed, miss Aran. Have you backed up your own persona as well?"

"It seemed appropriate to start planning ahead." Samus lied with a straight face; she hadn't been prepared to go that far, but there was no harm in spreading rumor, in case of listening devices. "I'm not getting any younger, after all."

"Really? That's one story we can cross off as false, then." Todar spoke, as always, with barely any facial movement, despite the agitation in his eyes. "There are quite a few of them these days, of course. Samus Aran, the walking miracle. Savior of the galaxy, hero to all. Some of the stories are really quite ridiculous, you know. Regardless, you've amassed quite a following. Petty crime is up fifty percent, the uninet is still in chaos, all the deep-space shipping companies are in revolt, and then there's the secessions. How many entire planets do you have behind you now? Five?"

"Only the ones you know about." Horzat chuckled grimly. "Nice try. Humor an old friend, Marky boy. What's your favorite ridiculous story?"

"A difficult question. I'd say the one about memories." Todar leaned forward ever-so-slightly, hands flat on his desk. "With one hand you bring death, and the other you bring enlightenment, they say. Genetic memory. Hereditary knowledge. Transferal of knowledge, of memories. They say that if somebody doubts your word, you can show them what happened, let them see and feel it themselves, with just a touch."

"They don't talk about the side effects, of course." Samus replied conversationally as she walked towards Todar. "We're not X, thank god. There's no hivemind involved. But what's shared is remembered. Always. If people want to see it with their own eyes, I can let them. It's done wonders for recruitment."

"You're telling me that it's true." Todar replied flatly. "That being physically superior to humans wasn't enough. Now you're claiming to be spiritually superior as well."

"Superior's a tricky word. I prefer different." Samus smiled coldly. "I'm just one more freak in a universe full of them. If you'd like me to prove it, though, I can provide. Would you like to 'remember seeing' somebody slowly melt apart in lava?"

"That's not really necessary." Todar declined. "You've come here to kill me. There's no need to get carried away. And with Adam here, it's fairly obvious why."

"You killed me, Mark." Adam said coldly. "We were roommates in the academy. We weren't exactly close; complete opposites. But when the worst happened, we understood each other. Naturally, idealogical differences forced us apart after we graduated. Even then, I still never believed you would do that. I let you into my office that night, and you murdered me, just like that."

"I suppose I did, yes." Todar admitted. "Renpou explained it to me. It needed to be done, and that was all there was to it."

Samus was ready when he went for the hidden gun. She shot his hand, and when he jerked back, she lunged for him and pulled him over the desk, smashing him bodily into the floor. Pulling his arms behind him, she placed her cannon against the back of his head.

"That's about it, really." She said conversationally. "Any last words?"

"I appreciate you giving me that much, at least." Todar admitted, voice still calm, despite the charred appendage. "It was nothing personal, Adam. Miss Aran. It was never personal."

"Wrong." Samus looked down at the man she was about to kill with disgust. More than anything, she wanted to whip him around and plunge the fangs into his face, to watch his calm break, watch him scream as she devoured him. More than anything in the universe, she wanted to do that. But she knew she couldn't. Maybe if the other two hadn't been there, she would have given in. But if she did that just once, she knew she would never be able to stop. "No, Todar. That's what you never got. You can't get any _more_ personal than taking a life. You could never understand that."

To his credit, Todar didn't scream, not even once, as her beam slowly burned away the back of his skull, until nothing remained of his head but his face.

Turning away from the corpse, Samus started to leave, then paused, looking out the window. The amount of firepower descending upon the planet had increased dramatically all of a sudden. Through the window, she saw more ships descending, destroying buildings and deploying ground troops. Space Pirate ships, and Space Pirate troops. On her orders, her own ships weren't firing on them, but they watched them carefully, in case they would need to. In return, the Space Pirates concentrated on the Federation as well. This time.

"About time." She smiled grimly, breaking the window with a punch.

"I'll go back to the ship and get them ready to pick you up." Adam said as Horzat walked over to join her. "Have fun, lady."

"You know me." Samus said over her shoulder as she threw herself from the window, Space Jumping down. Landing on a well-manicured lawn, she watched a Space Pirate battlecruiser zeroing in on her.

As Horzat hovered down next to her on a retractable jetpack, the Pirate ground troops formed a wide circle around her. Zebesians and KiHunters both watched them carefully, but made no signs to attack. The ship came to a halt overhead, covering them from the worst of the rain, and deployed two more Pirates. An obese, reptilian Iz with spindly arms, a vertical row of abdominal spikes, and three faceted red eyes. By his side, a winged, sinewy Drakar, his golden eyes shining as his javelin tail spun around him.

"Welcome to the party. Figured you'd have your date back up by now." Samus said calmly. "Brought one of my own."

"So I see." Kraid, the Space Pirates' mad scientist, grunted. "Horzat. You're looking shiny, old man. I like the new look. Must have cost you a year's worth of mopping up piss and puke off the floor. Here I thought you'd be in a home by now. Congratulations."

"Shame I can't say the same about your chrome dome, Kraid." Horzat growled. "Hair loss in this day and age. Gotta be embarrassing looking in the mirror. You've lost weight, though, I'll give you that. Finally kicked the Sys-Gro, or did you just forget how to make it?"

"Well, we all seem to be getting along wonderfully." Ridley commented dryly. "Better that way, really. Don't want anybody thinking we teamed up or anything, right? How long do you figure we've got?"

"We'd better be out of here in five minutes." Samus cracked her knuckles. "Hardly enough time to really enjoy ourselves, really."

"A shame, a shame. Still, might as well make use of what time we have." Ridley grinned, millions of needle fangs bared.

Surrounded by death and destruction, two warriors both smiled, and let their instincts return them to the true reason they stayed alive.

_**Author's Note**_

Another day, another dollar. Another half-a-year-or-so, another story. Well, I had fun with this one, and I hope to have fun with future ones. What more is there to say, really? When I wrote Super Metroid, I was still a technical adolescent with serious mental health issues and not much skill, going at it on pure determination. I certainly hope I've improved some since those days, but that's beside the point. Regardless, there was enough in that old project to justify a sequel, and so I cobbled one together, and I'm fairly satisfied with the result. How I'll look at it six years from _now_ is anybody's guess, but for now, I'm good.

Anyways, keeping with tradition with my last Author's Note, I'm more or less winging it at this point. I've been working all day and I'm working my way through a six-pack, so I daresay this is all that can be reasonably expected of me. I doubt I'll be returning to the world of Metroid after this; despite the open end, I don't really have any ideas as to where to take it from there. Plus, my relationship with the canon timeline is arguable at best, and will probably get worse once the newly-announced game comes out. Tradition when it comes to me and Metroid, I guess.

Now then, time for the "interactive" part of this, which is to say the part where I respond to questions/comments in reviews that haven't already been sufficiently answered in the story itself! MetaKraid pointed out the results of my C- in high school science courses, in regards to the blue X. A fix for that has been suggested, and is being implemented! Maximus1, on the other hand, pointed out a trend I have towards giving the heroes cynical, neutral advisors, which I freely admit to. It's not _quite_ the same way David and Leigh Eddings did things, but I think their sizable influence on my style is still fairly apparent.

Finally, None Of Your Business points out another influence on my work; Erico, my mentor in this particular field. I still consider myself far shy of his talent, and owe him a great deal for getting me involved in this in the first place; I'd never have come this far without him. While I'm at it, I'd like to thank Masboy and Quill, two good buddies of mine who are always there to tell me how I'm doing, and a fellow named Nethertribes, who I've never actually met but who's providing my free advertising, which is always a good thing. Gracias, senor.

It seems this has been somewhat remedied, but right at first, this one wasn't doing too hot when it came to getting reviews. So, logically, we come to the last portion of this Author's Note. The part where I ask for some help from all of you readers. Specifically, feedback. How'd I do this time, folks? What stood out, and what needed more work? If I want to get better, I need input, so I'd seriously appreciate your opinions on that now that it's all said and done. I can take it, so don't be afraid of hurting my feelings.

Meanwhile, I'm going to prepare for my next project, which will _probably_ be Breath Of Fire 2, but might instead be Zelda: Link's Awakening. You all know how it goes; personal issues might interfere, yadda yadda yadda. Regardless, one'll be along (relatively) soon, and then the other will (eventually) follow. We'll see what happens when I get there! Until then, everybody make sure you stay alive! I'll be doing my best to do the same.

_~Magus523 June 14, 2009_


End file.
